On Punishing Speech vs. Punishing Conduct
A university president provides a helpful explanation of the difference.
Academia
Frederic Jameson: Beloved Authoritarian
His famous erudition was attached to his nightmare politics.
ABA Standard 208, Law Schools, and the First Amendment
New guidance makes explicit what should have been clear already: Standard 208 obligates law schools to embrace First Amendment principles.
Private Universities That Reject First Amendment Principles Put Themselves At Legal Risk (Updated)
Conforming speech policies to the First Amendment would serve private universities well, legally and otherwise.
Advice to Entering Law Students—2024
Some ideas that might help you make better use of the opportunities available to you in law school.
Glenn Loury on Economics, Black Conservatism, and Crack Cocaine
The Brown University economist's new memoir Late Admissions covers capitalism, addiction, race, and the academy.
A Frightening View of Free Speech and Academic Freedom at Harvard
A Harvard Dean suggests universities can and should limit controversial speech.
Harvard Announces It Will Stop Releasing Political Statements
Following months of campus protests over the war between Israel and Hamas, the university has announced that it will no longer weigh in on current events.
Phil Magness: Who Really Pays the Most Taxes?
Economist and author Phil Magness debunks a recent New York Times piece and shoddy academic work about the rich and their taxes.
The Best of Reason: The Future of AI Is Helping Us Discover the Past
Historical teaching and research are being revamped by AI.
Academics Use Imaginary Data in Their Research
Academia values the appearance of truth over actual truth.
Literary Subfields, Ecocriticism, and the Eclipse of the Humanities
Len Gutkin in Liberties on the decline of the humanities.
The Future of AI Is Helping Us Discover the Past
Historical teaching and research are being revamped by AI.
The Case of the AI-Generated Giant Rat Penis
How did an obviously fabricated article end up in a peer-reviewed journal?
The Ethics of Law Professor Amicus Briefs Revisited
Are law professors too quick to sign their names on briefs submitted to courts? Is this a problem?
Study Finds Law Professor Contributions to Political Campaigns Skew Overwhelmingly Democratic
Notre Dame law Prof. Derek Muller so finds in a new analysis of law professor political donations between 2017 and 2023.
Claudine Gay's Defenders Shot the Messenger
Harvard should pick someone with academic integrity as its next president.
Could Elite Colleges Embrace the SAT Again?
There's increasing evidence that standardized tests accurately measure student achievement and are helpful, not hurtful, to disadvantaged applicants.
Universities Use DEI Statements To Enforce Groupthink
DEI statements are political litmus tests.
Harvard President Claudine Gay Resigns After Plagiarism Scandal
The next president should put more effort into fixing the college's abysmal free speech ranking.
Free Speech Advocates Are Often Hypocrites. This Doesn't Make the Cause Less Important.
When people from historically privileged groups are facing censorship, that doesn't mean people in historically marginalized groups are actually being empowered.
Colleen Eren: Why Donald Trump Signed the FIRST STEP Act
The author of Reform Nation explains how celebrity, philanthropy, and activism produced the most significant prison reform in decades.
The Best of Reason: Take Nutrition Studies With a Grain of Salt
The epidemiology of food and drink is a mess.
Take Nutrition Studies With a Grain of Salt
The epidemiology of food and drink is a mess.
Yascha Mounk: Avoiding The Identity Trap
How to battle identity politics and defend liberal values of universalism, free speech, and open inquiry
Academics Pick their "Most Underappreciated" Articles [Updated]
Econ Journal Watch asked academics with high citation counts to pick their most underappreciated article. I participated in the project, along with a number of prominent scholars from various disciplines.
China Is No Economic Model for America
The country's current struggles show the problems of the Beijing way—and make the case for freedom.
The Biden Administration's Antitrust Changes Would Be Great for Bureaucrats—and Bad for Consumers
The guidelines would ignore decades of academic findings about how firm concentration can have a positive impact on consumers' welfare.
The Government Has Made College an Overpriced Scam
Thankfully, you don't need fancy dining halls or a college degree to have a good life or get a good job.
Advice to Entering Law Students—2023
Some ideas that might help you make better use of the opportunities available to you in law school.
Texas A&M's Treatment of Journalism Director Raises Academic Freedom Concerns
Political appointees should have no role in faculty hiring decisions.
Vernon Smith: Adam Smith's Relevance, Jimmy Carter's Deregulation, and the Fed's Biggest Mistake
"The greatest thing that ever happened to me was to be born in a free country of modest means and to have opportunities," says the Nobel Prize–winning economist.
Proposals for Improving Dialogue and Reducing Ideological Polarization in the Legal World
Legal scholar and blogger Eric Segall puts forward several excellent suggestions.
Cornell's President Defends Free Speech Against Illiberal Impulses
Martha Pollack rejects the pernicious premise that universities should protect students from offensive ideas.
Stanford Dean's Letter and Limited-Purpose Institutions
A defense of institutional neutrality.
This Just In: Conspiracy Theorists Not Quite as Kooky as Previously Reported
Greetings from the second International Conspiracy Theory Symposium, where one of the most cited findings in the field has been debunked.
Christopher Rufo Wants To Shut Down 'Activist' Academic Departments. Here's Why He's Wrong.
"Professors are not mouthpieces for the government," says FIRE's Joe Cohn. "For decades, the Supreme Court of the United States has defended professors' academic freedom from governmental intrusion."
A Florida Bill To Censor Professors Just Got Even Worse
The bill now bans a battery of poorly-defined "Critical Theory" concepts, and prevents schools from funding programs that promote "diversity, equity, and inclusion."
Where Did All the English Majors Go?
A NewYorker essay on why no one studies English anymore.
The Place Where Property Law Happens in New York City
By an amazing coincidence, a current property dispute is occurring at the site of a storied property law case.
Ron DeSantis Wants To Cultivate 'Viewpoint Diversity' by Censoring Universities
Florida's H.B. 999 claims to support "viewpoint diversity" and "intellectual rigor." It does just the opposite.
DEI Inc. v. Academic Freedom
Amna Khalid and Jeffrey Aaron Snyder argue that we should not kid ourselves about the threat university DEI bureaucracies pose to academic freedom, but is there a better way?
Instant Karma's Gonna Get You
Should conservatives worry about breaking the norm of political non-interference with state universities?
The Latest DeSantis Higher Ed Reform Proposals
The Florida governor unveiled some big new ideas -- not all of them good
She Lost Her Job For Showing a Painting of Muhammad in Class. Now, She's Suing.
"Hamline subjected López Prater to the foregoing adverse actions because . . . she did not conform her conduct to the specific beliefs of a Muslim sect," the lawsuit states.
The New Yorker Profiles "The Conservative Who Wants to Bring Down the Supreme Court."
Jonathan Mitchell failed in his effort to become a legal academic, so he put his theories into practice instead.
The New Year Brings a New Formula for US News Law School Rankings
U.S. News and World Report is making some significant changes to the way it ranks law schools.
