Academic Freedom

The argument of this paper is set against the backdrop of a climate of intimidation, silencing, and fear that surrounds the discussion of several hot-button issues in academe, nowadays mainly having to do with race. An important and painful feature of this situation is that people on both sides of the issue feel vulnerable. The contribution of this paper is to help all involved to understand what academic freedom means and how it supports or fails to support the expression of controversial views. I show that a climate hostile to academic freedom is not an academic freedom issue per se. It...

The occasion of the 50^th anniversary of the University of California’s Faculty Code of Conduct is an opportune time for this unique CSHE paper, which documents the web of policies, rules, procedures, norms and institutional actors related to faculty discipline at UC campuses, including the socio-political context of successful and unsuccessful reform efforts across the decades. Compared to other spheres of college and university governance, rules and norms for disciplining faculty misconduct are less frequently the subject of sustained attention by scholars of higher education....

CSHE is devoted to supporting open and civil debate on key issues facing higher education. The ROPS contribution posted below by Steven Brint and Komi Frey discusses the University of California policies and practices of using DEI statements in the hiring and advancement of faculty, and how these policies and practices intersect with academic freedom as well as broader issues related to the contemporary academic culture of universities—what some may view as a controversial issue within the academy.

Because the editors of ROPS anticipated differing views regarding their analysis, and...

The United States retains many aspects of a healthy open society. But there are indicators of trouble and deep divisions aroundthe meaning and importance of democratic values. This debate has significant repercussions for universities and their academic communities. In the most-simple terms, there is a red and blue state divide over the role and importance of public institutions, including universities–red representing largely rural states in which most voters vote Republicanand blue being majority Democratic voters, often withone of the two parties having majorities in their respective...