academic freedom

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• SOURCE: Foundation for Individual Rights in Education
  1/25/2022
  

  Collin College Settles With History Professor Fired Over Tweets

  “We should all be protective of the rights granted by the Constitution — and stand up to defend them when they’re violated.” – Dr. Lora Burnett

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• SOURCE: Inside Higher Ed
  1/24/2022
  

  Florida Judge (Mostly) Sides with Faculty in UF Speech Dispute

  Judge Mark E. Walker compared the university's restriction of faculty testimony as expert witnesses in cases involving voting rights and mask mandates to the recent crackdowns by Hong Kong's pro-Beijing government. 

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• SOURCE: YouTube
  1/19/2022
  

  "Hello Internet": Barry Mehler Responds to Reaction to His Course Intro Video

  The Michigan professor defends a controversial course intro video that resulted in his suspension, saying his purpose was to provoke thought and make students aware of the risks and dangers of in-person instruction. 

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• SOURCE: Inside Higher Ed
  1/14/2022
  

  Michigan Professor's Intro Video Stunt Leads to Suspension (content: language)

  Historian of Science Barry Mehler was suspended by Ferris State (Mich.) University after releasing a welcome video for his spring course that took what could be described as a bold and provocative approach to protesting the college's mandatory in-person teaching. 

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• SOURCE: Yes!
  1/11/2022
  

  How Scholars are Countering the Big-Money Backed "Critical Race" Panic

  "Right-wing narratives have cast the backlash against CRT as a grassroots effort led by parents concerned about bias in their children’s education. But secretive and powerful moneyed interests are at work behind the scenes."

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• SOURCE: Chapelboro.com
  12/13/2021
  

  At UNC, New Provost Hire Raises Concerns of Political Influence

  Associate Professor of History William Sturkey worries that ideology may matter more than experience in hiring key administrators at Chapel Hill, and says many faculty are concerned about the growing role of politics in running the campus. 

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• SOURCE: PEN America
  12/13/2021
  

  Scope, Speed of Educational Gag Order Laws Increasing Nationwide

  by Jeffrey Sachs

  Under the South Carolina bill, racism, fascism, and homophobia can all be understood as cultural or political beliefs. Educators would be prohibited from describing those who hold such beliefs as bigoted or oppressive. 

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• SOURCE: Tampa Bay Times
  12/6/2021
  

  Faculty Report: UF Faculty Felt Outside Pressure to Destroy Data in COVID Research

  "Faculty at UF Health expressed concerns over funding being in jeopardy if they did not adopt the state’s stance on pandemic regulations in opinion articles, the report says."

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• SOURCE: Chronicle of Higher Education
  11/30/3021
  

  ‘It Just Felt Wrong’: U. of Florida Faculty Say Political Fears Stalled an Initiative on Race

  Faculty in the College of Education contend that University of Florida administrators are holding up the establishment of a concentration for doctoral students in the study of race and ethnicity in education, due to political pressure. 

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• SOURCE: Tampa Bay Times
  11/30/2021
  

  A UF Professor Used "Critical" and "Race" in a Sentence. Trouble Ensued

  Education Professor Chris Busey contends that he has been barred from stating his academic specialization, which is approved by his college, in his faculty profile. Is a political attack on critical race theory responsible? 

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• SOURCE: Brazilian Historians in the United States (BRAHUS)
  11/29/2021
  

  US-Based Brazilian Historians Write Open Letter Protesting Bolsonaro's National Archivist Appointment

  Historians charge that the appointment is part of Bolsonaro's campaign to whitewash the image of Brazil's period of military dictatorship and justify his own authoritarian ambitions.

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• SOURCE: Chronicle of Higher Education
  11/16/2021
  

  U. of Florida Dean Says He Was Directed to Reject Professor’s Request to Testify Against the State

  by Emma Pettit

  His remarks suggest that the decision to bar professors from testifying against the state may have come from the top of UF. 

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• SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
  11/14/2021
  

  Can Universities Counter the Global Tide of Nationalism?

  by Emily J. Levine

  Nationalism and a growing rivalry with China have pushed some politicians to reconsider the openness of American universities to foreign students. The history of academic exchange suggests this may be a mistake. 

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• SOURCE: TIME
  11/16/2021
  

  ‘We’re Preparing For a Long Battle.’ Librarians Grapple With Conservatives’ Latest Efforts to Ban Books

  by Olivia B. Waxman

  “We’re seeing an unprecedented volume of challenges,” says Deborah Caldwell-Stone, Executive Director of the American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom. “I’ve worked for ALA for 20 years, and I can’t recall a time when we had multiple challenges coming in on a daily basis.”

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• SOURCE: Inside Higher Ed
  11/8/2021
  

  Despite Administration Reversal, Faculty Suit against U of Florida Goes Forward

  The professors claim that while the adminstration reversed itself as a matter of discretion, its "unconstituitonal" policy on conflicts of interest remains in place and threatens faculty's First Amendment rights. 

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• SOURCE: PEN America
  11/9/2021
  

  Academic Gag Orders

  The PEN Foundation provides an overview of state laws regulating the content of school curriculum and concludes that they "not only pose a risk to the U.S. education system but also threaten to silence vital societal discourse on racism and sexism."

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• SOURCE: Associated Press
  11/5/2021
  

  UF Reverses Course; Profs can Testify in Voting Rights Suit

  Attorneys representing the professors said they were still planning to move forward with a lawsuit against the university.

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• SOURCE: The Atlantic
  10/31/2021
  

  Serwer: Florida Silencing Academic Critics of Disenfranchisement Echoes End of Reconstruction

  Free speech debates miss a key point: some participants don't want to protect the right to speak as much as the right of the state to use its power to end political arguments. The role of Black Floridians as citizens was once such an argument, and disenfranchisement ended it. 

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• SOURCE: Chronicle of Higher Education
  11/2/2021
  

  Restrictions on Faculty Testimony at UF Included Non-Paid Testimony, COVID Protocol

  The University's prior explanation, that faculty are free to serve as witnesses to litigation against the state on a pro-bono basis on their own time, appears to be contradicted by efforts to stop a pediatrics professor from testifying pro bono in favor of school mask mandates.

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• SOURCE: Chronicle of Higher Education
  11/1/2021
  

  The Attack on University of Florida Professors is Totalitarian

  by Silke-Maria Weineck

  Even beyond academic freedom, events in Florida signal the effort to tie the interests of the state's universities to the agenda of the state's ruling party.