Why a Broad View of Academic Freedom Is Essential
Most things faculty publish don’t lead to a backlash. But that doesn’t mean that there’s not an academic freedom problem.
Campus Free Speech
Three Core Beliefs that Define the Boundaries of Free Inquiry and Discourse on Many Campuses
These beliefs shouldn’t be considered the only legitimate way to see the world.
How Social Media Have Changed Campus Climate
The dynamics of the information ecosystem have impacted research and teaching.
"Unassailable Ideas: How Unwritten Rules and Social Media Shape Discourse in American Higher Education"
Profs. Ilana Redstone and John Villasenor are guest-blogging this week about their new book.
USC Marshall Business School Dean E-Mail on the Greg Patton / "Neige" Controversy
"The university's Office for Equity, Equal Opportunity and Title IX (EEO-TIX) ... concluded that ... Professor Patton's actions did not violate the university's policy."
USC Faculty Reaction to the Great USC Chinese Homonym Panic
"Scathing comments" from an anonymous faculty survey (reported by the Chronicle of Higher Education), plus an article in the Atlantic. You can't buy publicity like that, as they say, or faculty morale like that.
Petition to "Impose Further Disciplinary Actions" on University Students for TikTok Singalong
The students are at Florida International University, "Miami's first and only public research university."
"Students Demand Skidmore College Fire an Art Professor for Observing a Pro-Cop Rally"
"David and Andrea Peterson didn't even participate in the rally—they just watched it. The students don't care."
The Great USC Chinese Homonym Panic of 2020
Global reactions, plus a question [UPDATE: which has been answered, see below]. (This post, put up yesterday afternoon, was bumped so people can see the UPDATE.)
Students Demand Skidmore College Fire an Art Professor for Observing a Pro-Cop Rally
David and Andrea Peterson didn't even participate in the rally—they just watched it. The students don't care.
How Should Universities (Especially Law Schools) Treat The Powerful?
a response to an important and thoughtful argument by Jacob Levy
Statements from USC Dean and Provost About the Greg Patton / "Neige" Controversy
The framing is now that Prof. Patton's example was unduly "polarizing" -- but does that normally call for a professor to be switched in the middle of the course?
University's Center for Social Justice and Inclusion Hosts Race-Segregated Virtual Events
University of Michigan-Dearborn offers one discussion space for students of color, and another for whites.
Letter from USC Marshall School of Business Alumni About the "Neige" / Prof. Greg Patton Controversy
"This current incident, and Marshall's response so far, seem disturbingly similar to prevalent behavior in China [during the Cultural Revolution]—spurious accusations against innocent people, which escalated into institutional insanity."
USC Communications Professor "on a Short-Term Break" for Giving Chinese Word "Neige" as Example …
in a class discussion of filler words in conversation (which "neige" apparently is).
USC Suspended a Communications Professor for Saying a Chinese Word That Sounds Like a Racial Slur
Greg Patton was describing the Chinese filler word "nega," which earned him a temporary suspension.
Tenured Professor Fired for Accurately Quoting Leading Campus Speech Code Case
The professor, chair of the Central Michigan University journalism department, was teaching a media law class, and quoted a case that discussed the use of the word "nigger" at public universities.
"Some [Academics] Fear for Their Career Because They Don't Believe Progressive Orthodoxies"
From Prof. John McWhorter (Columbia) in The Atlantic.
Should Universities Recommend (or Demand) Epithet Filtering on Students' and Professors' Internet Devices?
A thought experiment that came to my mind; I'd love to hear what others think about it.
The Controversy Over Quoting Racial Epithets, Now at UC Irvine School of Law
Plus a new draft law review article on the subject, by Prof. Randall Kennedy (Harvard Law School), a leading scholar of race and the law, and me.
Iowa State English Professor Forbids Papers "Against Gay Marriage, Abortion, Black Lives Matter,"
threatens to kick students out of class for "othering." Fortunately, the university has stepped in and rejected this position.
"How Racist Are Universities, Really? Hyperbolic Accusations Do More Harm Than Good"
An excellent piece by Harvard law professor Randall Kennedy, one of the nation's leading scholars of race, law, and society.
Tulane Canceled a Talk by the Author of an Acclaimed Anti-Racism Book After Students Said the Event Was 'Violent'
In Life of a Klansman, Edward Ball reckons with a white supremacist ancestor. Try explaining that to the students.
'Cancel Culture' at U.S. Colleges Not Getting Worse, Say Liberal Professors. Conservative Colleagues Disagree.
Plus: Georgia makes it a hate crime to damage police property, SCOTUS denies relief to prisoners, Trump escalates war on Chinese apps, study casts doubt on "diversity training," coronavirus in schools, and more…
Med School Professor Removed from Fellowship Director Post, Apparently for Publishing Anti-Affirmative-Action Journal Article
This happened at University of Pittsburgh, a public university.
Trump Urges Floridians To Vote by Mail While Suing Over Remote Voting in Nevada
Plus: Tuesday primary results, TikTok may move to London, polls show growing distrust in media, and more...
2 Pro-Democracy University Employees in Hong Kong Fired as Beijing-Imposed National Security Law Takes Effect
"Academic staff...are no longer free to make controversial statements to the general public about politically or socially controversial matters," one of them writes.
What Cancel Culture Has In Common With Medieval Outlawry
Both outlawry and cancel culture grow out of the same human impulse toward ostracism, the desire to exclude offenders from “respectable” society.
Fordham University Disciplines Student (Austin Tong) for Political Instagram Posts
The student has now sued Fordham
Jonathan Rauch on Cancel Culture and the 'Unending Battle' for Free Speech
"The idea that wrongheaded, dangerous, heretical, and blasphemous ideas should be not only allowed but protected is preposterous," says Rauch. And yet, it's "the single most successful social principle ever invented."
Professor Put on Administrative Leave for Accurately Quoting Leading Campus Speech Code Case
The professor, the chair of the Central Michigan University journalism department, was teaching a media law class, and quoted a case that discussed the use of the word "nigger" at public universities.
And Another N.Y. Bill Targeted at "Hate Speech" (and Advocacy of Boycotts of Friendly Countries)
This one focuses on student groups that get funding from public colleges, but it's an unconstitutional viewpoint-based restriction.
"These Days … It Is Safest to Be Circumspect and Cautious"
"To survive as a ... professor requires constant self-censorship and compromise, especially in the humanities .... Resistance comes at a cost .... [H]er colleague ..., a law professor, was interrogated and suspended from teaching after publishing a series of essays critical of ...."
