Academic Freedom
Academic freedom is the conviction that the freedom of inquiry by faculty members is essential to the mission of the academy as well as the principles of academia, and that scholars should have freedom to teach or communicate ideas or facts (including those that are inconvenient to external political groups or to authorities) without being targeted for repression, job loss, or imprisonment.
-American Library Association, Academic Freedom webpage
What is academic freedom?
Books
Academic Freedom: Autonomy, Challenges and Conformation
Framed in the context of a world in which academic freedom is often jeopardized, or criticized by outside social forces, Academic Freedom: Autonomy, Challenges and Conformation sets out to echo the voices of faculty who have encountered challenges to academic freedom within their personal and professional careers. Including chapters which range from showcasing specific experiences within particular disciplines, to providing broad historical or philosophical perspectives, this edited collection provides an authentic account of how academic freedom has helped and hindered the academic profession, scholarship, and teaching.
Challenges to Academic Freedom
A must-read collection on contemporary threats to academic freedom. Academic freedom may be threatened like never before. Yet confusion endures about what professors have a defensible right to say or publish, particularly in extramural forums like social media. At least one source of the confusion in the United States is the way in which academic freedom is often intertwined with a constitutional freedom of speech. Though related, the freedoms are distinct. In Challenges to Academic Freedom, Joseph C. Hermanowicz argues that, contrary to many historical views, academic freedom is not static. Rather, we may view academic freedom as a set of relational practices that change over time and place. Bringing together scholars from a wide range of fields, this volume examines the current conditions, as well as recent developments, of academic freedom in the United States.
Dirty Knowledge: Academic Freedom in the Age of Neoliberalism
Dirty Knowledge explores the failure of traditional conceptions of academic freedom in the age of neoliberalism. While examining and rejecting the increasing tendency to view academic freedom as a form of free speech, Julia Schleck highlights the problem of basing academic freedom on employment protections like tenure at a time when such protections are being actively eliminated through neoliberalism's preference for gig labor.
It's Not Free Speech: Race, Democracy, and the Future of Academic Freedom
How far does the idea of academic freedom extend to professors in an era of racial reckoning? The protests of summer 2020, which were ignited by the murder of George Floyd, led to long-overdue reassessments of the legacy of racism and white supremacy in both American academe and cultural life more generally. But while universities have been willing to rename some buildings and schools or grapple with their role in the slave trade, no one has yet asked the most uncomfortable question: Does academic freedom extend to racist professors? It's Not Free Speech considers the ideal of academic freedom in the wake of the activism inspired by outrageous police brutality, white supremacy, and the #MeToo movement. Arguing that academic freedom must be rigorously distinguished from freedom of speech, Michael Bérubé and Jennifer Ruth take aim at explicit defenses of colonialism and theories of white supremacy--theories that have no intellectual legitimacy whatsoever.
Understanding Academic Freedom
In the evolving landscape of academic freedom in America, this second edition addresses the latest challenges and developments in the field. Since the publication of the first edition of Understanding Academic Freedom, the never-ending struggle to defend academic freedom has entered a demonstrably new phase. Academic freedom, long heralded as a core value of American higher education, may now be in as much danger as at any time since the 1950s. This second edition addresses the most recent and pressing issues in academic freedom, making it an indispensable resource for understanding the current controversial climate.
WSU Libraries: Value of Academic Freedom
Academic Freedom: WSU Libraries embrace academic freedom by supporting the right to teach, study, and pursue knowledge without undue interference.
-WSU Libraries' Strategic Plan 2025-2028, Vision, Mission and Value Statement
Resources on Academic Freedom
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AAUP- Advancing Academic FreedomThe American Association of University Professors' Academic Freedom statement, FAQs, and resources.
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AFT - Academic FreedomThe American Federation of Teachers' position on Academic Freedom.
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PEN America Campus Free Speech Guide - Academic FreedomThe academic freedom section of PEN America's Campus Free Speech Guide includes case studies related to academic freedom on college campuses and resources for administrators, faculty, and students.
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Scholars at Risk - Academic Freedom Monitoring ProjectScholars at Risk is a global network of institutions and people devoted to upholding the principle of academic freedom. Their Academic Freedom Monitoring Project tracks potential breaches of academic freedom and consequences that the involved scholars faced.