In early August, archivists and other scholars erupted in protest when the American Historical Association (AHA) wrote a letter asking broad questions about how archives plan to reopen. The AHA framed its letter as an effort to advocate for professional historians and countless other researchers who were without access to most physical archives throughout the … Continue reading “Archivists Serve Historians? A Case of Academic Hubris”
This essay is based on a talk given by Professor Munger at a Martin Center luncheon on July 15, 2021. What is academic freedom, and who has it? The question is raised by the recent controversy sparked by a process that is usually boring and bureaucratic: an academic tenure case. Nikole Hannah-Jones, Hussman School of … Continue reading “Academic Freedom and Tenure: It’s More Complicated Than People Think”
Law schools in the U.S. used to be run by no-nonsense individuals who, whatever their personal politics, thought that their institutions existed to teach students about the law, not to engage in advocacy or speculation. That began to change in the 1980s, as some younger law professors started to push into previously forbidden terrain, introducing … Continue reading “Progressivism Surges Through America’s Law Schools”
State legislatures are taking up higher education reform. Sometimes higher education reform consists of attempts to regulate what happens on college campuses, such as laws that prohibit universities from requiring students to believe the tenets of critical race theory. Sometimes, as occurred recently in Idaho, state legislatures cut budgets or impose tuition freezes on universities taken … Continue reading “Academic Freedom Doesn’t Shield Universities From Oversight”
The following is adapted from an address given at a Martin Center luncheon on July 15, 2021. Finally, I come to my main argument: Safe spaces. I want to come out in favor of safe spaces. Not everywhere, or for all purposes, but in general I think there should be a strong presumption in favor … Continue reading “Safe Spaces: Balancing Academic Freedom and Wokeness”
To the editor: Of course the process was arbitrary, unfair, malicious, and rigged. What else is new? The outcome was (or should have been) apparent at the start. As soon as Prof. Porter had the gall, the temerity, the deplorably, non-Progressive chutzpah (many would call it blind stupidity) to question & doubt the Star Chamber … Continue reading “Letter to the Editor: Academic freedom in jeopardy at Berea College”
Online education, especially as it has been implemented in the past year, isn’t for everyone. But it has had one unexpected benefit: transparency. Across the country, parents have had a chance to see for themselves what their children are learning. At the K-12 level, it’s been eye-opening. But college students need less supervision. So, even … Continue reading “What Are Students Learning? Make Syllabi Public”
I am a 72 year old Air Force veteran. After 30 years of service, I was ready to retire when I heard about an opening at a small Christian college in Kentucky, I applied for the position of academic vice president and was hired. Berea College was founded in 1855 by an abolitionist; it was … Continue reading “Why Did a Christian College Fire a Tenured Professor?”
With “cancel culture” running rampant on social media, in politics, and in the classroom, professors who put forth the effort to help students think critically and challenge their beliefs are needed more than ever. Over the last 15 years at Central Michigan University, journalism professor Timothy Boudreau championed those practices in his classroom, to the … Continue reading “When Universities Don’t Step Up, Good Professors Are Forced to Step Down”
Michelle Goldberg complains in the pages of The New York Times about how it is the left wing that is currently a victim of cancel culture—thanks to the right, which is trying to destroy “critical race theory.” Sounding alarm at the global counter-movement, she writes that Critical race theory, the intellectual tradition undergirding concepts like white privilege … Continue reading “The Backlash to Critical Race Theory Is on The Way”