American education will remain vibrant only as long as it fosters an open exchange of beliefs and ideas. This is a tenant behind the concept of “academic freedoms.” Academia is nurtured in an environment where new ideas, innovations, and concepts can stand the test of their peers. We do not categorically shun some things over others. We hold them to rigor.
The last few years have seen several cases that may leave an impact on the durability of academic freedom in the United States. From access to controversial documents, to social media rules and foreign influence, these are some of the cases that you should pay attention to this year. Precedents will be set.
1. Social Media changes for professors and students
The University of Kansas Board of Regents – which controls the state’s dozens of state and local colleges – approved a new sweeping social media policy that gives them the power to fire faculty or staff who use social media “improperly,” additionally giving administrators the power to judge statements based on language that is “contrary to the best interests of the university.” The move came about as a result of an anti-NRA tweet by journalism professor David Guth following the September mass shooting at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C. Faculty groups have called for a repeal of the new rules, citing their potential to stifle free speech in academia. The Kansas case may establish important precedent for faculty liberties.
The issue at hand: Social media rules have become an ethically challenging topic for universities. Administrators grapple with acceptable behavior for their faculty on services like Facebook and Twitter. It’s important that professional adults conduct themselves properly, but who is to decide what is “improper?” Will this be decided by impartial reviewers or is it at the whim of administrators invested in the good standing of the institution?
2. Limits on teaching sex in universities
At the University of Colorado at Boulder, a professor came under fire for an allegedly innapropriate lecture about prostitution. Professor Patti Adler has taught “Deviance in U.S Society” for 25 years, with one of the components of her course being an exploration into the sociology behind sex workers. This “prostitution skit” featured volunteering teaching assistants — who, for the record, were consenting adults and not minors — portraying varying types of sex workers and defining their socio-economic characteristics, and it has reportedly been a favorite of the student body for years. Last year, however, one student complained about the content, landing the professor in hot water with the administration. A settlement was reached, and Prof. Adler will return to teach her course for a final semester.
The issue at hand: Studies about human sexuality are bold new areas of higher education. The discipline is finally gaining mainstream support in universities instead of being shunned as a risqué offshoot of the sexual revolution. How this case develops could set a significant precedent on the future of content in these courses. A “prostitution skit” may seem obscene for academia, but the greater issue at hand is the amount of freedom professors have in teaching their courses using their own unique lessons.
3. Faculties want to boycott Israel
Few issues cut as deeply and invoke as much passion as the Israel-Palestine debate. At the end of 2013, the American Studies Association joined the BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanctions) movement against the State of Israel. Groups at some universities, like Brooklyn College, have been galvanized by the ASA into similar vows of divestment and boycott. The New York State Assembly also proposed a bill that would have cut funding to any state university that gave money to a group boycotting countries where existing programs receive New York State money, like Israel. That bill was pulled amid protests that it violated first amendment freedoms.
The issue at hand: Many elements of the BDS movement are considered anti-Semitic in their de-legitimization of the Jewish state, while proponents see it as an important act of social justice in the face of growing regional tensions. Universities may not want to boycott Israel, but do professors and departments have the internal leeway to make these decisions like at Brooklyn College? Should academia even be the place for such political movements?
4. China puts pressure on U.S. colleges
Last summer, New York University came under heavy criticism for the removal of Chen Guangcheng, a Chinese dissident who had a fellowship at the university. He claimed he was evicted from his home because of NYU’s relationship with China, where the university is making a massive push in the creation of a satellite campus.
The issue at hand: NYU is part of an ongoing higher education trend that sees universities making major expansions into China. The rising world power has graciously accepted interest from U.S. institutions as long as they play by the rules of Beijing. China has already pressured colleges into remaining mum on criticism of its government, and the Beijing-linked Confucius Institute remains a powerful lobby in domestic institutions. As universities continue to expand into China, they must set boundaries on the Chinese government’s influence. Similar problems have also arisen with universities that have satellite campuses in regions like the Middle East.
5. ROTC cadets banned from Wikileaks data
The public nature of classified documents concerning national security has rapidly changed. Not only did Edward Snowden compromise and leak a substantial amount of information on domestic spying programs, but there is the large trove of confidential documents from the website Wikileaks. A commanding officer for ROTC, the officer training program at colleges around the country, wrote a 2011 memo banning the use of Wikileaks data for any projects by ROTC students. While ROTC officials stated that information on Wikileaks is classified, it has also been in the public domain for years.
The issue at hand: Does the ROTC have the power to say where students can get their information from? Do they have the right to block certain information because it may show the military in a negative light? Academia is an institution that frowns upon censorship like this, and such a policy limits what can be taught in a class. The irony is also not lost on us that these young men and women are being denied a constitutional right that they are expected to defend.
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