Academic Freedom

The University of California’s Faculty Code of Conduct at Fifty: A Procedural and Sociological History of UC’s Evolving Ecosystem of Policies, Rules and Norms for Faculty Discipline, by William C. Kidder, CSHE 12.21 (December 2021)

Wiliam C. Kidder
2021

The occasion of the 50th 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....

Neo-Nationalism and Universities: Populists, Autocrats and the Future of Higher Education

John Aubrey Douglass

The rise of neo-nationalism is having a profound and troubling impact on leading national universities and the societies they serve. This is the first comparative study of how today’s right-wing populist movements and authoritarian governments are threatening higher education.

Universities have long been at the forefront of both national development and global integration. But the political and policy world in which they operate is undergoing a transition, one that is reflective of a significant change in domestic politics and international relations: a populist...

ROPS Special Thematic Issue: Reflections on the Challenges of Representation and Academic Freedom

2023

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...

Here and Abroad, Universities Face an Autocratic Playbook. Academe (AAUP Publication), November 2023

John Aubrey Douglass
2023

US Universities Face A Red Tide and A Precipice: A Neo-Nationalism and University Brief

John Aubrey Douglass
2023

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...