The most useful sites for up-to-date information:
American Association of University Professors (AAUP): www.aaup.org
Illinois AAUP: www.ilaaup.org
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE): www.thefire.org
Freedom Forum: www.freedomforum.org
Student Press Law Center: www.splc.org
Academic Freedom After September 11
AAUP Statement of Committee on Academic Freedom and Tenure
on "Academic Freedom in the wake of September 11, 2001."
AAUP Interim Statement on Sami Al-Arian (June 2002)
Sami Al-Arian case at the University of South Florida (August 2002)
Petition to Defend Academic Freedom After Sept. 11: http://www.academicfreedomnow.org/
Academic Freedom Under Attack Since Sept. 11, Seattle Times, 12/16/01: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/134378912_blacklist16m.html
The Usual Suspects: Osama bin Chomsky and America's Academic al Quaeda (October 2001) by Mackubin T. Owens: http://www.ashbrook.org/publicat/oped/owens/01/chomsky.html
Academic Freedom: A Time for Reform, by John Taylor, Virginia Institute for Public Policy (2001): http://www.virginiainstitute.org/viewpoint/_vvtaylor.html
Terrorist Attacks Put Academic Freedom to the Test by Robin Wilson and Ana Marie Cox: Chronicle of Higher Education, October 5, 2001: http://www.ncac.org/cen_news/cn83academicfreedom.html
The War on Campus by David Glenn, the Nation, 12/03/01: http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20011203&s=glenn
Tattletales for an Open Society, the Nation, 1/10/02 (response to ACTA list): http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=special&c=1&s=tattle20020110
Conservative Views on Academic Freedom
Townhall.com articles on education:: http://www.townhall.com/issueslibrary/education/
Individual Rights Foundation Academic Freedom Project (Savage case): http://www.cspc.org/irf/academic.htm
Foundation for Academic Standards and Tradition: www.gofast.org
National Association of Scholars: http://www.nas.org
Front Page Magazine (David Horowitz) Bias in the Academy: http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/GetArticleByTopic.asp?D=Bias+in+the+Academy&ID=1
Campus Capers by David Horowitz (2002): http://frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=1015
Ivy Leaguers for Freedom: http://www.ivyleaguers.org/
Accuracy in Academia’s Campus Report: http://www.academia.org/campusreport.html
Intercollegiate Studies Institute: http://www.isi.org
Independent Women’s Forum: http://www.iwf.org
Lynne Cheney (audio, 1992 speech on Academic Freedom): http://www.ashbrook.org/events/lecture/1992/cheney.html
American Council of Trustees and Alumni: www.goacta.org
No Indoctrination: www.noindoctrination.org
Campus Watch: www.campuswatch.org
Progressive Academic Groups
There are few progressive organizations by comparison; one notable group is Teachers for a Democratic Culture: http://www.tdc2000.org
TDC's 1995 report on the State of Academic Freedom
Scholars, Artists, and Writers for Social Justice (SAWSJ): http://www.sage.edu/SAWSJ/
Kate Bronfenbrenner case (1998): http://www.sage.edu/SAWSJ/bron.htm
Campus Watch Watch: www.campus-watch-watch.com
Additional Links on Academic Freedom
Academic Freedom at a Public University (1990) By John R. Lott, Jr.: http://www.fee.org/vnews.php?nid=2207 (registration required)
Academic Freedom Essay by Tomas Howie: http://home.ccci.org/howies/ResourceWeb/academicfreedom.htm
Alabama AAUP: http://www.ag.auburn.edu/aaup/
Texas A&M case (2000): http://hacktivism.ca/archive/msg00128.html
Intellectual Freedom Principles for Academic Libraries, ALA: http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/ifprinciplesacademiclibraries.html
Ronald Dworkin on Academic Freedom: http://www.uct.ac.za/general/monpaper/2002no02/index1.htm
MIT Protester Reinstated (2001): http://web.mit.edu/justice/www/acad_free.html
Abuse of Academic Freedom page (1998): http://www.dougweb.com/academic.html
BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY The Report of the President's Commission on Free Speech and Academic Freedom, May 1992: http://www.binghamton.edu/home/libraries/freespeech.html
CLHE Resources on Academic Freedom: http://www.clhe.org/academicfreedom/index.shtml
Definition of Academic Freedom, The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition (2001): http://www.bartleby.com/65/ac/academic.html
Boundary Displacement: Area Studies and International Studies during and after the Cold War, by Bruce Cumings: http://csf.colorado.edu/bcas/sympos/sycuming.htm
Moral Ambiguity, Disciplinary Power, and Academic Freedom by John Lie, Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars: http://csf.colorado.edu/bcas/sympos/sylie.htm
The Kept University (Atlantic Monthly, March 2000): http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2000/03/press.htm
The University as Business by Richard Posner (Atlantic Monthly, June 2002): http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2002/06/posner.htm
Extremists on Campus, by Daniel Pipes, New York Post, 6/25/02: http://www.danielpipes.org/article/424/
ERIC Digests:
Academic Freedom in American Higher Education (1994): http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed366262.html
Academic Freedom: http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed426114.html
Faculty Freedoms and Institutional Accountability (1985)
http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed284517.html
Tenure, Promotion, and Reappointment: Legal and Administrative Implications (1995): http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed396607.html
A Victory for Academic Freedom, by Beth Henary, Weekly Standard, 5/23/02: An all-girls school in Baltimore lets a historian's account of their history see daylight. : http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/001/275okuih.asp
Californians for Academic Freedom (website not functioning): http://www.loyalty.org/
Review of The Future of Academic Freedom (1996): http://dannyreviews.com/h/Future_Academic_Freedom.html
Law School Lawsuit (2002): http://www.ifeminists.com/introduction/editorials/2002/0402.html
The Academic Freedom Model by Carl Kadie (1993): http://www.cpsr.org/conferences/cfp93/kadie.html
How Speech Codes Designed to "Protect" Minorities and Females Compromise Academic Freedom and Free Speech: http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~whansen/siteindex2.html
Academic Freedom on Trial (1998 book): http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~whansen/sift_toc.html
ACADEMIC FREEDOM: IS IT AN UNLIMITED FREEDOM? By Theodore Hall, O.P.: http://www.ewtn.com/library/ACADEMIC/FR90102.HTM
Academic Freedom in Community Colleges (ERIC Clearinghouse): http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/ERIC/bibs/acafreedm.htm
Foundation for Information Policy Research, defining academic freedom: http://www.fipr.org/academic.html
Gov. Jeb Bush “Supports” Academic Freedom (Gainesville Sun, 2001): http://www.sunone.com/articles/2001-07-26c.shtml
Supreme Court Decisions on Education
Academic Freedom Essay by Tomas Howie: http://home.ccci.org/howies/ResourceWeb/academicfreedom.htm
Alabama AAUP: http://www.ag.auburn.edu/aaup/
New York AAUP: http://www.nysc-aaup.org/
ACLU, Racist Speech on College Campuses: http://www.aclu.org/library/aahate.html
Texas A&M case (2000): http://hacktivism.ca/archive/msg00128.html
Intellectual Freedom Principles for Academic Libraries, ALA: http://www.ala.org/alaorg/oif/ifprinciplesacademiclibraries.html
Ronald Dworkin on Academic Freedom: http://www.uct.ac.za/general/monpaper/2002no02/index1.htm
MIT Protester Reinstated (2001): http://web.mit.edu/justice/www/acad_free.html
Abuse of Academic Freedom page (1998): http://www.dougweb.com/academic.html
BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY The Report of the President's Commission on Free Speech and Academic Freedom, May 1992: http://www.binghamton.edu/home/libraries/freespeech.html
CLHE Resources on Academic Freedom: http://www.clhe.org/academicfreedom/index.shtml
Definition of Academic Freedom, The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition (2001): http://www.bartleby.com/65/ac/academic.html
Boundary Displacement: Area Studies and International Studies during and after the Cold War, by Bruce Cumings: http://csf.colorado.edu/bcas/sympos/sycuming.htm
Moral Ambiguity, Disciplinary Power, and Academic Freedom by John Lie, Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars: http://csf.colorado.edu/bcas/sympos/sylie.htm
The Kept University (Atlantic Monthly, March 2000): http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2000/03/press.htm
The University as Business by Richard Posner (Atlantic Monthly, June 2002): http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2002/06/posner.htm
Extremists on Campus, by Daniel Pipes, New York Post, 6/25/02: http://www.danielpipes.org/article/424/
ERIC Digests
Academic Freedom in American Higher Education (1994): http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed366262.html
Academic Freedom, Tenure, and Student Evaluation of Faculty: Galloping Polls in the 21st Century (1998): http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed426114.html
Faculty Freedoms and Institutional Accountability (1985): http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed284517.html
Tenure, Promotion, and Reappointment: Legal and Administrative Implications (1995): http://www.ed.gov/databases/ERIC_Digests/ed396607.html
A Victory for Academic Freedom, by Beth Henary, Weekly Standard, 5/23/02: An all-girls school in Baltimore lets a historian's account of their history see daylight. http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/001/275okuih.asp
Review of The Future of Academic Freedom (1996): http://dannyreviews.com/h/Future_Academic_Freedom.html
Law School Lawsuit (2002): http://www.ifeminists.com/introduction/editorials/2002/0402.html
The Academic Freedom Model by Carl Kadie (1993): http://www.cpsr.org/conferences/cfp93/kadie.html
How Speech Codes Designed to "Protect" Minorities and Females Compromise Academic Freedom and Free Speech: http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~whansen/siteindex2.html
Academic Freedom on Trial (1998 book): http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~whansen/sift_toc.html
ACADEMIC FREEDOM: IS IT AN UNLIMITED FREEDOM? By Theodore Hall, O.P.: http://www.ewtn.com/library/ACADEMIC/FR90102.HTM
Academic Freedom in Community Colleges (ERIC Clearinghouse): http://www.gseis.ucla.edu/ERIC/bibs/acafreedm.htm
Foundation for Information Policy Research, defining academic freedom: http://www.fipr.org/academic.html
Gov. Jeb Bush “Supports” Academic Freedom (Gainesville Sun, 2001): http://www.sunone.com/articles/2001-07-26c.shtml
Free Speech: Other Voices (1999): http://faculty-web.at.nwu.edu/commstud/freespeech/voices/index.html
Free Expression on College Campuses: http://home.earthlink.net/~jgertzma/ncac/index.html
Academic Freedom and the Internet
The rise of the internet has raised new questions about academic freedom on college campuses. To what extent can universities regulate email, websites, and other technology use by their students? To what degree are colleges obligated to stop “misuse” of their own information systems?
Every college has controlled information: traditionally, faculty and librarians served as guides for what information was deemed important enough to be given access to students. Although their controls by selection were very broad, certain restrictions did exist. With the internet, that control of information is eliminated. Instead, students and faculty can access virtually any kind of data, illegal or legal, via the world wide web.
Because of legal requirements and technical limits on data transfer, colleges have become one of the primary cops of the internet, restricting the use of downloadable music and video sites, and also dealing with problems related to harassment.
Legal Cases Involving the Internet and Academic Freedom
In an important 4th Circuit case in 2000, Urofsky v. Gilmore, the idea of individual academic freedom was rejected by the court. The case dealt with a Virginia law prohibiting any use of state-owned computers to look at pornographic websites. This means faculty must receive permission from their “supervisor” in order to research any potentially sexually explicit topics on their office computer—permission they don’t need to go to the library and read about the topic.
Although some court decisions have rejected limits on the internet (including American Library Association v. U.S., May 31, 2002, which ruled the Children's Internet Protection Act unconstitutional), few courts have endorsed the idea that academic freedom provides special protection for internet/computer use on college campuses.
In Trimble v. West Virginia, 549 S.E.2d 294 (W.V. S.Ct. 2001), the West Virginia Supreme Court upheld the right of a community college administration to order all faculty to use a particular software program to create course syllabi.
In Felsher v. Univ. of Evansville, 755 N.E.2d 589 (Ind. 2001) and In re Baxter (W.D.La. 2001), lower courts have ruled against academic freedom, such as ordering the disclosure to the university of the name of an anonymous professor who created a website criticizing the administration.
In Pichelmann v. Madsen, (E.D.Wisc. 2001), a Wisconsin district court ruled that a student who worked as a clerk for the university could have words on her outgoing email censored. Administrators considered a quote from Gloria Steinem in the student’s email signature line (“The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off”) to be vulgar. The court upheld the demand for the student to eliminate these words.
Websites on academic freedom and the internet:
Peacefire: Youth Alliance Against Internet Censorship.
AAUP Report (2004): Academic Freedom and Electronic Communications
Academe article, "Prying Eyes in Cyberspace." (1999): http://www.aaup.org/publications/Academe/1999/99so/SO99LGWA.HTM
Urofsky Decision: Academic Freedom Bites the Dust, by Marjorie Heins (2001): http://www.ncac.org/cen_news/cn81academicfreedom.html
Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Computers and Academic Freedom Archive: http://www.eff.org/CAF/
Digital Millennium Copyright Act (2001): http://www.acm.org/usacm/copyright/DMCA-release.html
Academic Freedom and the Digital Divide (2000): http://www.cfif.org/htdocs/freedomline/current/in_our_opinion/free_line_academicfreedom.htm
Academic Freedom and the Internet: http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~daniel/309m/cyber/caldwell/academicfreedom.html
Computers and Academic Freedom: Sex, Censorship, and the Internet: http://www.eff.org/CAF/cafuiuc.html
Carnegie-Mellon and internet freedom (older information): http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/user/alma/web/cafe.html
Citizens Internet Empowerment Coalition.
Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility
TDC Report on the State of Academic Freedom (1995): Censorship in Cyberspace
Computers and Academic Freedom Archive: http://www.eff.org/CAF/
CDA & Other Net Censorship Bills Archives
Censorship & Free Expression Archives
Scientology Archives Archive of cases regarding Church of Scientology cases.
Censorship, the Internet, Intellectual Freedom, and Youth, by Kay Vandergrift: http://scils.rutgers.edu/~kvander/censorship.html