A wave of mostly partisan laws have sought to curtail what university faculty can say and teach.
It’s important to understand both the possibilities and limitations of campus dialogue. A person walks past a board with the message ‘Free Palestine’ on the campus of Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis, Feb. 7, 2024, in Indianapolis.
(AP Photo/Darron Cummings)
In 2015, I saw Jewish and Muslim students forge a set of group agreements so they could dialogue on the Middle East conflict. Initiatives like this or a ‘Semester in Dialogue’ program are promising.
A pro-Palestinian march in Edinburgh in early December 2023.
jeremy sutton-hibbert / Alamy Stock Photo
The second of two episodes of The Conversation Weekly podcast exploring how the Israel-Gaza conflict is affecting life at universities.
A police officer walks into a building at University of Massachusetts Amherst to arrest students who staged a sit-in outside of the Chancellor’s office.
Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
If scientists cannot freely conduct and communicate their work, the gap between evidence and policy widens, and that means Canada gets less effective laws and policies.
Attendees clap as they listen during a ‘teach-in on Gaza’ lecture at Rutgers University on Oct. 27, 2023, in New Brunswick, N.J.
(AP Photo/Andres Kudacki)
In Ontario and in Alberta, university decisions about balancing free expression and protection from harm will be an important test of recent university policy shifts pertaining to free expression.
One of the roles of an African university is to produce critical and democratic thinkers.
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Trans activists are running a campaign against University of Melbourne philosopher Holly Lawford-Smith. It raises a host of challenging ethical questions.
Pinar Selek at a conference in Paris in 2010.
Streetpepper/Wikimedia
A refugee in France, the Turkish sociologist has been persecuted in her country for 25 years. Her case is emblematic of the repression of academics in Turkey – and elsewhere.
Otago University has followed Massey in aspiring to be a “Tiriti-led” institution. But this implies being on the Crown side of the partnership – which is not where a university should be.
Outside of teaching and writing, Samuel Steward took up tattooing.
The Estate of Samuel M. Steward
The ability of professors to freely teach and write about controversial topics without fear of retribution is nothing new.
People in Montréal attend a demonstration on May 15, 2021, to denounce Israel’s military actions in the Palestinian territories.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
When universities are seen as favouring one position on the Palestine/Israel issue, their ability to uphold academic freedom as a fundamental tenet of democracy is jeopardized.
The true value of tenure goes beyond protection of the individual. It protects society from ideologically motivated restructuring as an alternative to poor performance management.
While academic freedom itself might sound like a unique notion, granting special tools or rights to specific professions is rather commonplace.
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Academic freedom is increasingly caught up in partisan debates around freedom of speech. But the idea behind it is not only vital but shared across many other professions.
Academic freedom has a positive effect on democracy, as measured by the quality of elections and executive accountability.
Quebec’s bill may be seen as part of on-going ‘culture wars,’ and alongside Ontario and Québec conservative governments’ grandstanding about ‘free speech’ on university campuses.
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In addition to undermining universities’ and faculty members’ autonomy, the bill blurs distinctions between free expression and academic freedom, and turns academic freedom into a political weapon.
With academic freedom comes moral responsibility. Men within New Zealand universities – and beyond – must challenge misogynistic abuse of their women colleagues and not stay silent.
More discussion is needed about how power shapes access to learning and speaking in a university environment.
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Adjunct Professor, Faculty of Health and Environmental Sciences, Auckland University of Technology, and Professor of Political Science, Charles Sturt University