This "Update" discusses the impact of the "Seminole Tribe v. State of Florida" decision on higher education. In essence, the Court in this decision rescinded the doctrine of "Eleventh Amendment immunity" and ruled that Congress has only limited power to enact laws that apply to state governmental entities, including…

This article contains the transcript of a speech that Robert ONeil delivered on June 12 in Washington, D.C., at the Ninetieth Annual Meeting of the American Association of University Professors. ONeil is professor of law and former president of the University of Virginia, where he directs the Thomas Jefferson Center for Protection of Free…

In this article, the author examines the newly revised speakers policy in Boston College. The revised policy, defended by administrators as being consistent with past practice, differs in two important respects from the speakers policy it replaced. Lest the scope of this unfortunate policy be exaggerated, it is important to note that the policy…

Academic freedom is the right, especially of a university professor, to free speech without fear of reprisal. Experts posit three means to academic freedom: tenure, due process and professional competence. A critical issue in current post-secondary education governance and administration that relates to each of these means is post-tenure review.…

The contents of this document consist of a transcript of the 1975 Censorship Conference proceedings, a list of conference participants, an outline of the National Ad Hoc Committee against Censorship, a statement of concern, and three appendixes. Contents of the transcript include introductory remarks by William F. Fore; a welcoming address by Dave…

At a Symposium on Academic Freedom at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, the speaker (Senior Research Fellow, Hoover Institute) discusses the rights, duties, and responsibilities connected with academic freedom. (PD)

Examines court cases affecting academic freedom. Observes that the courts have not established a separate and independent right to academic freedom, although they have almost unanimously upheld the right of the student to learn and the teacher to teach that which is controversial utilizing the First Amendment protections of freedom of expression…

This paper reports on the development of an instrument which was used to gather information on the views of science students on the social responsibility of scientists. The methodology is based on a "Views on Science-Technology-Society (VOSTS)" instrument which was developed in Canada. It involves three phases, employing interviews and…

The power to promote wellness, resist oppression, and foster liberation is grounded in psychological and political dynamics. Hitherto, these two sources of power have been treated in isolation, both for descriptive and prescriptive purposes. As a result, we lack an integrative theory that explains the role of power in promoting human welfare and…

This essay considers the music curriculum from a philosophical perspective, focusing on the tension between freedom (personal autonomy) and discipline (moral and ethical principles). The approach could be characterized as hermeneutical: the aim is to deepen our understanding through discussing the basic arguments for justifying the inclusion of…

Political theory has described a positive linkage between education, cognitive ability and democracy. This assumption is confirmed by positive correlations between education, cognitive ability, and positively valued political conditions (N = 183 - 130). Longitudinal studies at the country level (N = 94 - 16) allow the analysis of causal…

This article reports on an unsettled tenure case at Columbia University. The high-profile and controversial tenure bid of Joseph A. Massad, a Palestinian-American professor of Arab politics, was turned down by Columbia University's provost, Alan Brinkley. Mr. Massad's case follows closely on two other high-profile tenure bids affected by the…

This study explored the variations in democratic beliefs among teachers based on gender and locus of control. The study groups comprised of 286 teachers. The results demonstrated that the level of adherence to democratic beliefs on the part of female teachers was significantly higher than those of male teachers, especially in terms of equality and…

Must faith be privatized? Taken at face value, this could seem a curious question, since no one is in a position to "sell off" any religion to private interests, in the way that, for example, British Rail was dismembered. Yet the question is an important one in a contemporary society, characterized as it is by a significant divergence of views…

In 2005, living in his native Democratic Republic of the Congo, Dr. Felix Kaputu was arrested and accused of participating in a separatist movement outlawed by the government--charges he denied. He and other political detainees were incarcerated for several months, enduring beatings and torture. Amnesty International and other human rights groups…