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Academic Freedom and Its Constraints

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Academic freedom has a long, complex history. For reasons that are at times justifiable and at times indefensible, academic freedom has been constrained in a variety of ways, and not only by institutional or political authorities. Paul Axelrod tracks the history and progress of academic freedom and takes stock of its status in the first part of the 21st century.

Image courtesy of interviewee. February 29, 2024

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This video video discusses the concept of academic freedom, which is described as a professional entitlement that allows qualified academics to teach, research, and publish in an open intellectual environment, ideally including the right to express critical views about their institutions and governing bodies. It distinguishes between academic freedom and freedom of speech, asserting that the former is contingent on professional standards and does not permit misinformation in academic settings.

The historical overview traces the evolution of academic freedom from medieval universities, influenced by theology, through the Enlightenment that fostered scientific inquiry, to the 19th and 20th centuries when secular institutions emerged alongside state-funded colleges. This video video highlights significant developments, such as the establishment of Humboldt University, which legitimized specialized research and academic freedom, albeit with conditions avoiding political dissent.

In the late 20th century, a shift occurred as the definition of academic freedom broadened, emphasizing the rights of faculty to criticize universities and governments. However, contemporary challenges arise from political polarization, with threats to academic freedom coming from both the left and the right. This video video illustrates incidents of harassment due to controversial opinions and discusses the implications of state interventions in educational curricula, especially in the U.S.

Finally, it stresses the importance of universities as spaces for unconstrained inquiry and warns against forces that could undermine this function. The author expresses cautious optimism about the future of academic freedom, while urging vigilance against authoritarian inclinations in society.

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Here are some similar articles that discuss the themes and topics related to academic freedom, its historical evolution, challenges, and implications in contemporary society:

1. **"The Crisis of Academic Freedom in the Age of Political Polarization"**
This article explores the recent challenges to academic freedom stemming from increasing political polarization in various countries. It highlights case studies of academics facing backlash for their research or views and advocates for the need to protect scholarly independence.

2. **"Academic Freedom: Historical Origins and Current Debates"**
This piece provides a comprehensive overview of the historical development of academic freedom, tracing its roots from medieval times through to the modern day, and discusses current debates surrounding its definition and boundaries.

3. **"Navigating Censorship: The Threats to Academic Freedom Today"**
This article analyzes the modern threats to academic freedom, including state interventions in academic content and the chilling effects of self-censorship among scholars. It addresses the implications for research and education in the current sociopolitical climate.

4. **"The Role of Universities in Preserving Academic Freedom"**
This article discusses the critical role universities play in upholding academic freedom, emphasizing why they should be sanctuaries for free thought and dissent. It also examines the responsibilities of faculty and administration in fostering an environment conducive to open inquiry.

5. **"Freedom of Speech vs. Academic Freedom: Understanding the Distinction"**
This piece delineates the important differences between general freedom of speech and the more specialized concept of academic freedom, particularly in convideos where academic standards and research integrity are at stake.

6. **"Academic Freedom and its Discontents: Balancing Rights and Responsibilities"**
This article evaluates the ongoing tensions within academia regarding the scope of academic freedom, considering both stakeholder rights and the responsibilities inherent in scholarly work, stressing the importance of maintaining integrity in academic discourse.

7. **"Historical Perspectives on Academic Freedom: Lessons from the Past"**
This historical analysis looks at key moments in the evolution of academic freedom and what contemporary scholars can learn from the past, including the impact of important institutions like Humboldt University.

These articles provide a broad examination of the same issues presented in the original video, including historical convideo, current challenges, and the importance of safeguarding academic freedom in educational settings.

X-TIMESTAMP-MAP:LOCAL=00:00:00.000,MPEGTS=900000

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Academic freedom is a professional entitlement,

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even a privilege that allows qualified academics

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to teach research

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and publish largely unimpeded in a,

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in an open intellectual, environment.

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It, it also includes, at least ideally, the right

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of professors to express critical views about the

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institutions, that employ them

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and the governments under whose,

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jurisdictions they work.

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Now, this definition has evolved,

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and we can talk in a moment about,

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about the way it's evolved historically,

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but I should make a distinction between academic freedom

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and freedom of speech.

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They're not the same thing.

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In, in, in democratic societies, free speech permits,

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citizens to speak, write propagandize, even lie, as long

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as they don't commit libel or slander without being arrested

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or otherwise, punished.

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Um, it doesn't allow them to teach in universities

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unless they're qualified.

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And academic freedom doesn't permit professors to lie

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or propagandize,

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or make up data in the course

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of their teaching and research.

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So, so academic freedom is, is, is contingent on meeting,

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certain professional standards of, of behavior

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and citizens exercising their rights

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to free speech are not subject, to, to those,

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those requirements.

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Well, the, the contemporary Western University has its

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origins in Europe and the Middle Ages.

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So higher learning itself has much deeper roots

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that extend well beyond, Europe.

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Um, you know, Chinese, Indian,

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Egyptian scholars and scribes.

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Um, not to mention those, you know, illustrious,

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thinkers of ancient Greece

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and Rome contributed to philosophical and,

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and scientific thought long

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before the founding of the universities of Bologna,

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Oxford, and, and Paris.

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So by the, about the 15th century, univers,

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the universitas, literally a community of scholars had,

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had been established in a number of venues throughout Europe

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and, and functioned under, papal authority.

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These were Catholic institutions.

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So a form of academic freedom existed in, in, well, I like

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to say in practice, if not in theory, there,

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there were deep debates over theology

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and philosophy that consumed the intellectual energies

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of medieval scholars.

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Faith in God though, was a given, and,

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and the learning of received religious texts,

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was essential.

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So the, the question is, was there room

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for critical thinking

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and analysis within this Catholic intellectual universe?

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Well, one example, Peter Avalard, a a Parisian teacher,

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and philosopher in the early 12th century,

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he thought there was, so, he argued that logic ought

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to be used in the contemplation of Christian doctrine.

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So in this way, faith could coexist

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with reason and reflection.

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Now, some of Avalara's contemporaries,

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strongly disagreed, and they sought to silence him.

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He was hounded and exiled throughout his academic career.

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Uh, he was also, unfortunately, castrated by relatives

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of Eloise, a former student with whom he'd had an affair,

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kind of an extreme constraint on academic freedom.

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So medieval higher education certainly fostered debate,

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but there were clear limits to it.

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Uh, the, the reformation, the rise of Protestantism led

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to alternative theological

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explanations for the state of the world.

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And, and new universities with a,

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a Protestant orientation were formed in their wake.

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But religious explanations for the state of the world

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and universe still dominated,

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and you could go outside those, those, those paradigms.

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So the doors opened considerably to scientific thought

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and critical inquiry, during the enlightenment,

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which we associate with thinkers like Rousseau, John Locke,

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Isaac Newton, Voltaire, David Hume, the skeptical thinkers

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who challenged, theological ideas about the nature

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of, of reality.

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They generally took God out of the equation,

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not totally, but largely.

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And, and they, and they, they,

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their ideas were in some ways so radical that most

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of 'em didn't find a space in universities

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because of their, their, heretical thinking.

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Now, the 19th century witnessed extensive change in the

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development of higher education.

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So church led universities, they, they endured in,

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in North America, the US and, and, and Canada.

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Um, but state funded non-denominational colleges spread

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rapidly throughout Europe and the United States,

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and to a lesser extent in, in England.

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This is an era of, of sort of nationalistic rivalries

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and higher education, more than ever, was intended to

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serve this cause of nation building,

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both in the highly centralized systems of France

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and Germany, and in the relatively decentralized systems in

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America and Canada.

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Uh, an important, event.

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Historically, the establishment

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of Humboldt University in Germany in 1809,

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in which two cornerstones

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of contemporary univer university life were legitimated,

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specialized research and, and academic freedom.

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And the latter permitted students

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and faculty to pers pursue scholarly life unimpeded, so long

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as they avoided political dissidents

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by challenging the authority of the state.

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So, professional autonomy was extended,

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but it was still conditional.

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So this was somewhat of a watershed movement,

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as was the emergence of empirical scientific research,

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particularly that of, of Charles Darwin, whose theory

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of evolution, based on his research on plant

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and animal life in the Galapagos Islands,

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informed the theory of evolution. Faith,

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And spirituality were no longer an adequate paradigm

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to explain life and human behavior.

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And by the beginning of the 20th century,

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Darwinism really dominated in, in the world of biology

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and empirical research spread through other sciences,

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and increasingly the social sciences,

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so medical discoveries,

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and innovations, insulin, you know, the product

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of research at the University of Toronto,

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for the treatment of diabetes, later,

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the slk vaccine for polio.

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This just elevated the importance of empirical research and,

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and, and faith in research, in a sense replaced faith in God

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as an explanation for human motivation and, and behavior.

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So knowledge was now to be,

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new knowledge was now to be discovered.

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This just wasn't a case of replicating old knowledge.

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Um, and academics needed to be sort of freer to explore,

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that, that new knowledge universities in, in Canada,

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were increasingly,

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secular in the way they were governed and funded.

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But, in the first part of the 20th century,

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they still imposed conditions on academic freedom.

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So professors who were radical suspected of being socialist

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or communist or who

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otherwise challenged capitalism would,

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would either not be hired

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or if they were accidentally hired, potentially subject

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to harassment and,

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and even dismissal if they, if they spoke out.

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This was even truer in the United States

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through the McCarthy era with its, loyalty oaths

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and, you know, dismissal of people who were communists

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or suspected communists,

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and that that was cast very broad, very broadly.

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Um, and, this changed the, the,

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this political atmosphere changed in the 1960s.

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So students obtained more autonomy.

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Um, this was a sort of disruptive era,

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kind of tumultuous in, in universities at times,

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and students got more autonomy.

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Uh, the regulations on student behavior were largely

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withdrawn except in religiously run institutions,

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and there were far more of these in the US than in Canada.

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So, faculty out of this period secured,

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better tenure arrangements.

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The definition of academic freedom was broadened

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and deepened to include the right to be politically,

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critical of universities and governments.

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Um, and, this led us into,

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a, a new, a new era in the wake of the sixties,

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and particularly from the 1980s on

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as many former student activists became,

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university professors.

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Uh, they, they sought to address the issues of access

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and equity, particularly with respect to the treatment

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of women and minority students,

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and to explicitly confront both direct

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and indirect forms of discrimination in university

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policy and practice.

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This led to affirmative action practices in

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hiring and admissions.

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Um, you know, something now dramatically changed in the US

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as a result of a recent Supreme Court decision.

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Affirmative action theoretically is no more there.

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Um, but, speech codes, for example, barring racist

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and sexist language were one result of this movement, along

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with equity, diversity,

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and inclusion policies intended to level the playing field

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with respect, to, access,

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and, and admissions.

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I'd be less inclined to treat these speech codes,

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in their moderate form as a, as a speech issue,

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more as a issue of professional standards.

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So I think that, you know, the ban on verbal harassment

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or intimidation of colleagues or students

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or anyone in the workplace is, I think it's justifiable

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that arguably is a legitimate constraint on the expressions

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of academic freedom.

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Um, and I don't think universities can function

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as a serious intellectual entity without them.

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There are some other legitimate constraints,

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on academic freedom.

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Now, professors can't teach just anything they want.

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They may be required to teach specific courses,

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and the new courses they create have

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to be approved by their colleagues.

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They can't publish everything they write in academic

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journals,

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or get research grants,

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which enables their academic freedom without,

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without going through peer review.

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Um, and as I mentioned earlier,

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they can't use their positions to sort of propagandize,

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in the classroom.

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So, academic freedom, interestingly enough, is, is qualified

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by academics themselves, not just by external authorities.

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So when it comes to

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what I consider illegitimate threats on academic freedom,

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and this comes in a meandering way to the issue of,

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the, the, the politics of the, the right

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and the left, while the majority of academics,

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I think in the US and Canada, are likely

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to have supported diversity

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and inclusion initiatives, at the outset, I think

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that consensus may be breaking down in, in, in light of the,

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political polarization that has erupted around the world

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and is affecting higher education.

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So from the right, there has been a sustained campaign,

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including by politicians

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who may not have a good understanding

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of these concepts against postmodernists

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Marxists critical race theorists.

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Um, and there have been threats

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and incidents of violence.

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Um, you know, one academic, who,

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criticized Trump quite extremely in a way

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she was harassed, told

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and had to stay away from campus, in the, in the light

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of, vile email and death threats.

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I mean, and of course, the most tragic incident was the,

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the event in Charlottesville in 2017

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where white supremacists March chanted fascist slogans.

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This is right near the University of Virginia,

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and where a counter demonstrator, was killed

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by a Nazi sympathizer.

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Then there are the policies in states like Florida, where,

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government is intervening in almost unprecedented ways

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to determine what professors can, can and can't teach.

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Um, as a sort of,

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campaign against political correctness and wokeness.

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The, this is very concerning, and,

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and how widely this intervention into universities,

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in, in a day-to-day basis happens.

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We really will, have a lot to do with the survivability

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of, of academic freedom.

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Now, I should say, in Canada, I mean, universities are,

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quite dependent on government for funding, even more

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so than in, in, in the us.

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We don't have as many sort of private institutions,

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but they have been able to maintain their autonomy over

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programming, hiring curriculum,

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and government agencies have tried at least indirectly

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to shape research agendas,

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but they have not intervened in the,

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in the day-to-day activities

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of the institutions along the lines that,

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have happened in, in, in Florida.

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So I think this, this intolerance from the right,

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and there's some irony here

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because on the one hand, against political correctness,

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they claim to, the extremists among them claim

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to want all forms of constraint on speech ended,

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and yet they wanna constrain the speech

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and activities, even the existences of, of leftists.

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So th this is paradox, to put it mildly.

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Now, there are threats to academic freedom,

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which come from the left as well.

13:41.665 --> 13:45.525
Um, and it, again, in this world of polarized politics,

13:46.435 --> 13:48.405
dogmatism, erupts, you know, according

13:48.405 --> 13:51.525
to some activists, language,

13:51.545 --> 13:53.485
or ideas considered offensive

13:54.425 --> 13:55.925
should not be expressed at all.

13:56.305 --> 14:00.005
And, and this has led to what's been called the canceling

14:00.005 --> 14:03.805
of speakers, and the interruption of speakers

14:03.985 --> 14:05.845
and the shouting down of, of speakers.

14:06.425 --> 14:07.885
Um, and, and it's

14:07.885 --> 14:12.325
because ideas they express are somehow considered hurtful.

14:12.505 --> 14:15.485
Um, now that's, that's just not sufficient.

14:15.505 --> 14:19.965
The universities got to be a place, where,

14:19.975 --> 14:21.485
there is conflict of ideas

14:21.665 --> 14:26.245
and people, even offensive ideas, as long as they don't,

14:26.345 --> 14:30.805
in my view, cross the line into, overt racism and,

14:31.345 --> 14:34.125
and, ex and harassment.

14:34.125 --> 14:36.685
Now, I know in the US the, the, the, the politics

14:36.685 --> 14:37.965
and the law are somewhat different.

14:38.305 --> 14:41.605
Um, the, there are no laws on hate speech, though.

14:41.605 --> 14:44.485
Universities, as private organizations do have the right

14:44.625 --> 14:48.085
to control things inside the institutions, irrespective

14:48.145 --> 14:50.765
of what, the Constitution

14:50.765 --> 14:51.765
Says. Um,

14:51.765 --> 14:53.485
in Canada, we do have hate laws.

14:53.745 --> 14:55.525
Um, they aren't applied very often.

14:55.545 --> 14:57.365
The bar is pretty high as it should be.

14:57.785 --> 15:01.285
Um, this is around, speech,

15:01.505 --> 15:03.805
but we operate within that environment.

15:03.905 --> 15:05.725
But,

15:06.605 --> 15:09.365
I think there're probably more such incidents of,

15:10.045 --> 15:12.805
proportionately more such incidents of, repression

15:12.805 --> 15:14.445
of speech speakers on the left

15:14.465 --> 15:16.845
or the right, in the US than in Canada.

15:16.945 --> 15:20.845
But it is an issue. There've been enough cases to,

15:21.485 --> 15:23.965
rouse some concern, and I think it, it's problematic.

15:24.125 --> 15:26.485
I, I mean, I remember as an undergraduate in the late

15:26.555 --> 15:29.685
sixties and early seventies who engaged in some degree of

15:30.205 --> 15:34.845
activism, that a key demand going back

15:34.845 --> 15:39.365
to the Berkeley free speech movement in 1964, was that

15:40.065 --> 15:44.045
all restraints on speech should be lifted,

15:44.395 --> 15:48.725
whereas today, some, including those on the left,

15:49.625 --> 15:52.925
are seeking the opposite to contain speech limited.

15:53.345 --> 15:56.765
Uh, and this is pre, this has been very much linked,

15:56.825 --> 15:58.485
to identity politics as well.

15:58.745 --> 16:02.405
Um, and, I think it's,

16:03.375 --> 16:07.645
where these actions have been, unjustified.

16:07.765 --> 16:12.085
I think it, it has severe implications for,

16:12.395 --> 16:13.645
faculty and students.

16:14.205 --> 16:16.685
I think the universities have to be brave.

16:17.315 --> 16:21.485
They have to make a commitment to maintaining,

16:22.385 --> 16:26.085
civility on, on campus

16:26.465 --> 16:29.925
and there, so there are going to be some constraints.

16:30.265 --> 16:32.725
You know, academic freedom is not,

16:33.605 --> 16:35.605
absolute any more than freedom is absolute.

16:35.705 --> 16:37.725
So we, we live with the constraints,

16:37.785 --> 16:39.045
and what I've written about is,

16:39.065 --> 16:41.645
is the way in which these constraints have evolved,

16:41.745 --> 16:42.925
and some are legitimate

16:42.925 --> 16:45.805
and some aren't, legitimate.

16:45.825 --> 16:47.045
And I've outlined some of those.

16:47.665 --> 16:49.125
Um, but I think that

16:49.125 --> 16:53.285
unless the universities, are, are sort

16:53.285 --> 16:57.205
of bold in, in protecting the environment,

16:57.385 --> 17:01.605
and being able to, you know, resist the,

17:02.585 --> 17:07.085
the, incursions of, of government from above,

17:07.515 --> 17:08.725
from students

17:08.825 --> 17:12.885
and some faculty, from below the population in general,

17:12.985 --> 17:15.925
we, I think we, we might be in trouble

17:15.925 --> 17:19.685
because the rise of authoritarianism is, is, evident

17:20.065 --> 17:24.005
and hopefully it's a phase, hopefully, we,

17:24.145 --> 17:25.165
we return to.

17:25.625 --> 17:29.005
Um, it was never like a golden era by any means

17:29.065 --> 17:30.565
or always, conflicts

17:30.625 --> 17:33.445
and, violations of the things I'm I value.

17:33.465 --> 17:35.205
But, but, you know,

17:35.205 --> 17:37.765
the university is a really special institution

17:37.765 --> 17:42.445
because it is the only one in society that I think allows

17:42.585 --> 17:46.805
for these sort of unconstrained, search for truth.

17:47.005 --> 17:49.845
I mean, people with PhDs may work for governments

17:49.845 --> 17:50.965
or private organizations,

17:50.985 --> 17:52.485
but they always have an agenda they have

17:52.485 --> 17:54.365
to fulfill in terms of research.

17:54.705 --> 17:58.685
The university's the place that allows a kind of,

17:59.315 --> 18:02.965
unconstrained, unimpeded, search for knowledge

18:03.025 --> 18:04.605
by students and professors.

18:05.225 --> 18:08.325
And, and we lose that.

18:08.665 --> 18:13.005
We lose a, a core, institution

18:13.195 --> 18:16.605
that ensures, the persistence of, of a,

18:16.605 --> 18:17.965
of a democratic society.

18:18.465 --> 18:21.965
And so, I am moderately optimistic that we'll come

18:21.965 --> 18:24.245
to our senses, and that then that things will,

18:24.825 --> 18:29.645
the extremes will, you know, dissipate.

18:30.145 --> 18:33.085
But I, I think we should remain, on guard.

The Evolution of Academic Freedom

00:00:00 - Academic freedom is a professional entitlement, even a privilege that allows qualified academics to teach research and publish largely unimpeded in a, in an open intellectual, environment. It, it also includes, at least ideally, the right of professors to express critical views about the institutions, that employ them and the governments under whose, jurisdictions they work.
00:00:32 - and we can talk in a moment about, about the way it's evolved historically, but I should make a distinction between academic freedom and freedom of speech. They're not the same thing. In, in, in democratic societies, free speech permits, citizens to speak, write propagandize, even lie, as long as they don't commit libel or slander without being arrested or otherwise, punished. it doesn't allow them to teach in universities unless they're qualified.
00:01:06 - or propagandize, or make up data in the course of their teaching and research. So, so academic freedom is, is, is contingent on meeting, certain professional standards of, of behavior and citizens exercising their rights to free speech are not subject, to, to those, those requirements. Well, the, the contemporary Western University has its origins in Europe and the Middle Ages. So higher learning itself has much deeper roots
00:01:36 - you know, Chinese, Indian, Egyptian scholars and scribes. not to mention those, you know, illustrious, thinkers of ancient Greece and Rome contributed to philosophical and, and scientific thought long before the founding of the universities of Bologna, Oxford, and, and Paris. So by the, about the 15th century, univers, the universitas, literally a community of scholars had,
00:02:07 - and, and functioned under, papal authority. These were Catholic institutions. So a form of academic freedom existed in, in, well, I like to say in practice, if not in theory, there, there were deep debates over theology and philosophy that consumed the intellectual energies of medieval scholars. Faith in God though, was a given, and, and the learning of received religious texts, was essential. So the, the question is, was there room
00:02:36 - and analysis within this Catholic intellectual universe? Well, one example, Peter Avalard, a a Parisian teacher, and philosopher in the early 12th century, he thought there was, so, he argued that logic ought to be used in the contemplation of Christian doctrine. So in this way, faith could coexist with reason and reflection. Now, some of Avalara's contemporaries, strongly disagreed, and they sought to silence him. He was hounded and exiled throughout his academic career.

Evolution of Academic Freedom Through History

00:03:11 - of Eloise, a former student with whom he'd had an affair, kind of an extreme constraint on academic freedom. So medieval higher education certainly fostered debate, but there were clear limits to it. the, the reformation, the rise of Protestantism led to alternative theological explanations for the state of the world. And, and new universities with a, a Protestant orientation were formed in their wake. But religious explanations for the state of the world
00:03:42 - and you could go outside those, those, those paradigms. So the doors opened considerably to scientific thought and critical inquiry, during the enlightenment, which we associate with thinkers like Rousseau, John Locke, Isaac Newton, Voltaire, David Hume, the skeptical thinkers who challenged, theological ideas about the nature of, of reality. They generally took God out of the equation, not totally, but largely. And, and they, and they, they,
00:04:17 - of 'em didn't find a space in universities because of their, their, heretical thinking. Now, the 19th century witnessed extensive change in the development of higher education. So church led universities, they, they endured in, in North America, the US and, and, and Canada. but state funded non-denominational colleges spread rapidly throughout Europe and the United States, and to a lesser extent in, in England.
00:04:47 - and higher education, more than ever, was intended to serve this cause of nation building, both in the highly centralized systems of France and Germany, and in the relatively decentralized systems in America and Canada. an important, event. Historically, the establishment of Humboldt University in Germany in 1809, in which two cornerstones of contemporary univer university life were legitimated,
00:05:19 - And the latter permitted students and faculty to pers pursue scholarly life unimpeded, so long as they avoided political dissidents by challenging the authority of the state. So, professional autonomy was extended, but it was still conditional. So this was somewhat of a watershed movement, as was the emergence of empirical scientific research, particularly that of, of Charles Darwin, whose theory of evolution, based on his research on plant
00:05:54 - informed the theory of evolution. Faith, And spirituality were no longer an adequate paradigm to explain life and human behavior. And by the beginning of the 20th century, Darwinism really dominated in, in the world of biology and empirical research spread through other sciences, and increasingly the social sciences, so medical discoveries, and innovations, insulin, you know, the product

Evolution of Academic Freedom and Research

00:06:23 - for the treatment of diabetes, later, the slk vaccine for polio. This just elevated the importance of empirical research and, and, and faith in research, in a sense replaced faith in God as an explanation for human motivation and, and behavior. So knowledge was now to be, new knowledge was now to be discovered. This just wasn't a case of replicating old knowledge. and academics needed to be sort of freer to explore,
00:06:57 - were increasingly, secular in the way they were governed and funded. But, in the first part of the 20th century, they still imposed conditions on academic freedom. So professors who were radical suspected of being socialist or communist or who otherwise challenged capitalism would, would either not be hired or if they were accidentally hired, potentially subject to harassment and, and even dismissal if they, if they spoke out. This was even truer in the United States
00:07:27 - and, you know, dismissal of people who were communists or suspected communists, and that that was cast very broad, very broadly. and, this changed the, the, this political atmosphere changed in the 1960s. So students obtained more autonomy. this was a sort of disruptive era, kind of tumultuous in, in universities at times,
00:07:57 - the regulations on student behavior were largely withdrawn except in religiously run institutions, and there were far more of these in the US than in Canada. So, faculty out of this period secured, better tenure arrangements. The definition of academic freedom was broadened and deepened to include the right to be politically, critical of universities and governments. and, this led us into,
00:08:31 - and particularly from the 1980s on as many former student activists became, university professors. they, they sought to address the issues of access and equity, particularly with respect to the treatment of women and minority students, and to explicitly confront both direct and indirect forms of discrimination in university policy and practice. This led to affirmative action practices in
00:08:59 - you know, something now dramatically changed in the US as a result of a recent Supreme Court decision. Affirmative action theoretically is no more there. but, speech codes, for example, barring racist and sexist language were one result of this movement, along with equity, diversity, and inclusion policies intended to level the playing field with respect, to, access, and, and admissions.

Balancing Academic Freedom and Professional Standards

00:09:34 - in their moderate form as a, as a speech issue, more as a issue of professional standards. So I think that, you know, the ban on verbal harassment or intimidation of colleagues or students or anyone in the workplace is, I think it's justifiable that arguably is a legitimate constraint on the expressions of academic freedom. and I don't think universities can function as a serious intellectual entity without them.
00:10:05 - on academic freedom. Now, professors can't teach just anything they want. They may be required to teach specific courses, and the new courses they create have to be approved by their colleagues. They can't publish everything they write in academic journals, or get research grants, which enables their academic freedom without, without going through peer review. and as I mentioned earlier, they can't use their positions to sort of propagandize,
00:10:33 - So, academic freedom, interestingly enough, is, is qualified by academics themselves, not just by external authorities. So when it comes to what I consider illegitimate threats on academic freedom, and this comes in a meandering way to the issue of, the, the, the politics of the, the right and the left, while the majority of academics, I think in the US and Canada, are likely to have supported diversity and inclusion initiatives, at the outset, I think
00:11:09 - political polarization that has erupted around the world and is affecting higher education. So from the right, there has been a sustained campaign, including by politicians who may not have a good understanding of these concepts against postmodernists Marxists critical race theorists. and there have been threats and incidents of violence. you know, one academic, who,
00:11:42 - she was harassed, told and had to stay away from campus, in the, in the light of, vile email and death threats. I mean, and of course, the most tragic incident was the, the event in Charlottesville in 2017 where white supremacists March chanted fascist slogans. This is right near the University of Virginia, and where a counter demonstrator, was killed by a Nazi sympathizer.
00:12:11 - government is intervening in almost unprecedented ways to determine what professors can, can and can't teach. as a sort of, campaign against political correctness and wokeness. The, this is very concerning, and, and how widely this intervention into universities, in, in a day-to-day basis happens. We really will, have a lot to do with the survivability of, of academic freedom.

Challenges to Academic Freedom in Today's Universities

00:12:43 - quite dependent on government for funding, even more so than in, in, in the us. We don't have as many sort of private institutions, but they have been able to maintain their autonomy over programming, hiring curriculum, and government agencies have tried at least indirectly to shape research agendas, but they have not intervened in the, in the day-to-day activities of the institutions along the lines that, have happened in, in, in Florida.
00:13:14 - and there's some irony here because on the one hand, against political correctness, they claim to, the extremists among them claim to want all forms of constraint on speech ended, and yet they wanna constrain the speech and activities, even the existences of, of leftists. So th this is paradox, to put it mildly. Now, there are threats to academic freedom, which come from the left as well.
00:13:46 - dogmatism, erupts, you know, according to some activists, language, or ideas considered offensive should not be expressed at all. And, and this has led to what's been called the canceling of speakers, and the interruption of speakers and the shouting down of, of speakers. and, and it's because ideas they express are somehow considered hurtful.
00:14:15 - The universities got to be a place, where, there is conflict of ideas and people, even offensive ideas, as long as they don't, in my view, cross the line into, overt racism and, and, ex and harassment. Now, I know in the US the, the, the, the politics and the law are somewhat different. the, there are no laws on hate speech, though. Universities, as private organizations do have the right
00:14:48 - of what, the Constitution Says. in Canada, we do have hate laws. they aren't applied very often. The bar is pretty high as it should be. this is around, speech, but we operate within that environment. But, I think there're probably more such incidents of, proportionately more such incidents of, repression of speech speakers on the left or the right, in the US than in Canada.
00:15:21 - rouse some concern, and I think it, it's problematic. I, I mean, I remember as an undergraduate in the late sixties and early seventies who engaged in some degree of activism, that a key demand going back to the Berkeley free speech movement in 1964, was that all restraints on speech should be lifted, whereas today, some, including those on the left,

Challenges to Academic Freedom and Identity Politics

00:15:53 - and this is pre, this has been very much linked, to identity politics as well. and, I think it's, where these actions have been, unjustified. I think it, it has severe implications for, faculty and students. I think the universities have to be brave. They have to make a commitment to maintaining,
00:16:26 - and there, so there are going to be some constraints. You know, academic freedom is not, absolute any more than freedom is absolute. So we, we live with the constraints, and what I've written about is, is the way in which these constraints have evolved, and some are legitimate and some aren't, legitimate. And I've outlined some of those. but I think that unless the universities, are, are sort
00:16:57 - and being able to, you know, resist the, the, incursions of, of government from above, from students and some faculty, from below the population in general, we, I think we, we might be in trouble because the rise of authoritarianism is, is, evident and hopefully it's a phase, hopefully, we,
00:17:25 - it was never like a golden era by any means or always, conflicts and, violations of the things I'm I value. But, but, you know, the university is a really special institution because it is the only one in society that I think allows for these sort of unconstrained, search for truth. I mean, people with PhDs may work for governments or private organizations, but they always have an agenda they have to fulfill in terms of research.
00:17:59 - unconstrained, unimpeded, search for knowledge by students and professors. And, and we lose that. We lose a, a core, institution that ensures, the persistence of, of a, of a democratic society. And so, I am moderately optimistic that we'll come to our senses, and that then that things will,
00:18:30 - But I, I think we should remain, on guard.

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