Is higher education the highest priority for East Carolina University, or is the institution just pushing a political narrative? On August 19th, ECU held its 2022-23 faculty convocation, and the Martin Center was able to attend via livestream. The speeches and events that transpired were eye-opening and revealed much about the path ECU is encouraging … Continue reading “ECU Makes the Secret Hurt Visible”
In 1987, philosopher Allan Bloom published The Closing of the American Mind, a book critiquing higher education in America. As a self-described teacher “dedicated to liberal education,” Bloom offered a thoughtful account of illiberal cultural and ideological trends: Civic education turned away from concentrating on the Founding to concentrating on openness based on history and … Continue reading “The Reopening of the American Mind”
There is much discussion in academia at present about the future of tenure. Critics of this protection from political or moral pressure against freedom of inquiry include both left-progressives, who see it as an illegitimate method to prevent the penalization of conservatives, and some on the right who believe that market forces should be allowed … Continue reading “The DIE Revolution Will Transform Tenure”
Last week, the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees passed two important resolutions on campus viewpoint neutrality. With the addition of these protections, UNC’s free-speech policies are among the best in the nation. In a joint meeting of the University Affairs Committee and the Strategic Initiatives Committee, trustees voted unanimously to adopt both resolutions. The “Resolution … Continue reading “Did You Know? UNC-Chapel Hill Now Has Some of the Best Free-Speech Policies in the Nation”
America is finally waking up to the fact that poisonous, divisive ideas are proliferating in public education, from pre-K to graduate school. The question is how to push back against such ideas. Solutions are easier in K-12; primary and secondary teachers do not have the same protections of academic freedom that college faculty have, and … Continue reading “The Pushback Against Classroom Indoctrination Begins”
Collectivists of many stripes—but one aim—have been eating away at our free society for over one hundred years. If we want to reverse America’s current slide into authoritarianism and actively move towards a fully free society, we need to be as clear about our goals as the collectivists have been about theirs. And theirs have … Continue reading “To Restore American Liberty, We Need Colleges that Actually Teach the Liberal Arts”
On March 11, UNC-Chapel Hill announced the appointment of a new dean for the Hussman School of Journalism and Media. Raul Reis, whose hiring was approved by the board of trustees, will officially begin his duties on July 1. Nikole Hannah-Jones and Ideological Panic at UNC An important backdrop to Reis’s appointment is the unsuccessful … Continue reading “Pressure to Conform: UNC Journalism School May Implement Top-Down Woke Agenda”
We’ve heard a lot, in recent years, about a free speech crisis on our college campuses. There are stories of speakers being shouted down and of students being afraid to voice their opinions, for fear of ostracism by their peers or retaliation from faculty and staff. Some have dismissed this talk as politically inspired rhetoric, … Continue reading “Who’s Afraid of a Little Data?”
To the editor: While I think Peter Bonilla is spot on in his article “The Biggest Threat to Academic Freedom? We Don’t Teach It.”, I think a more macro view reveals how uncontained the problem is to academia and that what is threatened is all Human thought; what is threatened is Humanity. When it becomes … Continue reading “How academia can be saved from within”
Challenges to Academic Freedom, a new volume edited by University of Georgia professor Joseph Hermanowicz, offers a fresh slate of perspectives on some of the issues potentially clouding academic freedom’s future. It’s a worthwhile collection, and it arrives at an opportune time. While I can’t touch upon each entry in the space here, a few … Continue reading “The Biggest Threat to Academic Freedom? We Don’t Teach It.”