The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) has forged a fundamental shift of paradigm in program and public policy design. Whereas in most countries the needs-based approach has historically guided services and policies for children, the CRC sets out a new perspective based on the human rights of all children. This perspective…

The modern American university faces declining financial support from federal and state governments, and one way institutions have saved money has been to offer tenure to fewer professors. The key reason for tenure, is to ensure academic freedom--professors' freedom to teach, conduct research, and perform other duties without fear of job loss or…

This article provides a consideration of the problem of equity in education. In the first part of the discussion, the author draws on philosophical and sociological literature to consider what equity means and its implications for education. Drawing on work by Burbules, Lord and Sherman, she looks to curriculum as a condition of access and the…

There's a received view of the troubles of academia which lays the blame on a new corporate culture of soulless managerialism. Geoff Sharrock isn't convinced. He argues that critical scholars are often ill-placed to be able to understand their own predicament. And many of the problems of the sector lie in its incapacity to adjust to the changed…

This article reports a conference held at the University of Edinburgh on December 4, 2006. The "Islam on Campus" conference had considered a range of issues related to the future of Islamic Studies. It considered whether Islamic Studies should be considered a discipline or a subject area, whether its methods were essentially textual or…

In late April, John D. Lewis, a historian and classicist at Ashland University, flew to Virginia to deliver a lecture at George Mason University about U.S. policy toward Iran. Mr. Lewis is an admirer of the late Ayn Rand, and he shares her belief that democracies should respond to external attacks without much concern for civilian casualties. He…

This anthology places art at the center of meaningful urban education reform. Providing a fresh perspective on urban education, the contributors describe a positive, asset-based community development model designed to tap into the teaching/learning potential already available in urban cities. Rather than focusing on a lack of resources, this…

This paper reviews events leading to the University of Michigan speech codes, identifies the state of the law following the Doe v. the University of Michigan decision, points out problems in suggested alternatives to the code, and outlines an approach that protects students from hate speech while maintaining first amendment rights. The paper first…

"Politically correct" has become an all-purpose pejorative epithet conflating and condemning a number of initiatives, such as affirmative action in hiring and admissions, multicultural education, broadening the "canon" of classical texts to include women and minority groups, protests against unpopular, usually conservative…

A simulation/game examining the issue of academic freedom through a mock trial of the Parducci v. Rutland case is provided. (DE)

Community reaction to an address by a speaker for Gay Liberation at Schroeder High School, Webster, New York is described. (DE)

English departments should develop policy statements dealing with the selection of books, films, and periodicals. (JH)

What is the intersection between women's studies and academic freedom? How does the work that is done by women's studies educators, the development of both new courses and programs, and the transformation of the traditional curriculum to make it more inclusive of the concerns of women and other minorities, impact on academic freedom--the basis of…

According to this reference manual, the nation's courts offer public high school journalists the same constitutional protection for expression, free speech, and free press as adults. Part 1 traces the development of the First and Fourth Amendments and explains how these provisions apply to high school publications. Part 2 examines expression that…