[FRIAM] academic freedom

[Prof David West]

"Academic Freedom" is an issue that I would love to discuss in the tavern sometime. My side of the conversation would necessarily be personal—based on 25 years as a professor; ten years at a conservative Catholic University and fifteen years at public universities in New Mexico.

Lot's of anecdotes about threats—including some that are not typically included in the discussion, like the Kinko's lawsuit that intimidated universities and prevented fair use of material that copyright owners did not want included in course discussions—"bullshit" defenders like the AFA, cases of cowardly self-censorship, and more.

It was interesting, to me, how often it was the content of my software design courses that caused problems; e.g., the lecture on "cultural hard coding," with examples like two values for sex and five for 'race', and last names limited to seven characters excluding hyphens.

davew


On Thu, Mar 3, 2022, at 8:21 AM, glen wrote:
> Here's why I think the Academic Freedom Alliance (and similar things 
> like the Heterodox Academy) are bullshit [⛧]:
>
> In a defamation lawsuit, the hype around digital health clashes with 
> scientific criticism
> https://www.statnews.com/2022/03/02/health-fertility-thermometer-valley-polis/
>
> There's a *legitimate* case of the expression and defense of academic 
> freedom. But what's occupying the attention of the "Academic Freedom 
> Alliance"? [sigh] The suspension of an "anti-Woke" professor from a 
> Christian propaganda outlet <https://www.cuw.edu>:
>
> https://academicfreedom.org/letter-to-concordia-wisconsin-on-gregory-schulz/
>
> along with professors facing blowback for "adult child sex" comments, 
> stances on abortion, "critical race theory", confederate statues, etc. 
> They (the AFA) may have good intentions to some extent. But by ignoring 
> actual academics, cases of actual academic freedom, and focusing on 
> peripherally kinda-sorta academic divisive issues, they effectively 
> incite the divisions rather than treating them. They're directly 
> responsible for turning the "academy" into the equivalent of a Rupert 
> Murdoch gossip rag. Chelsea Polis deserves way more defensive attention 
> than anyone the AFA is claiming to defend.
>
> [⛧] And I mean bullshit in the technical sense, not false, not true, 
> but designed to target divisive "culture war" type stuff, designed as a 
> confidence trick.
>
> -- 
> glen
> When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.
>
>
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