While the term "academic immunity" is not one usually used, in practice academics in higher education institutions (HEIs) have been immune from legal challenges to their key professional activities. The historical position in the UK has seen both university visitors and the courts consistently refusing to interfere with decisions…

One result of accelerating globalization is the competition for human capital. On one hand, nations are investing more and more in their educational systems to create their own human resources; on the other hand, these nations are struggling to effectively and efficiently utilize their existing human capital. Additionally, there is a massive wave…

This article examines the rhetoric of resistance used by South African anti-apartheid journalists to expose the links between the apartheid government and death squads. By utilizing allusions, repetition, and a concept I refer to as "subversive enthymemes," these journalists managed to reveal publicly information about death squad…

The library, as we once knew it, may no longer be relevant. And, yet, this is undoubtedly the most exciting time in history to be a librarian. The future of the school library as a relevant and viable institution is largely dependent on librarians and how quickly they respond to change. They worry about their field and their practice. They worry…

This article inquires into the "calculative practices" that are used to regulate quality in higher education. After providing a historical snapshot of the antecedents of quality regimes, I discuss university ranking systems (league tables) and the UK's Research Assessment Exercise. I ask two questions: first, what do the visibilities of…

During the Cold War era, when many institutions of higher learning sacrificed faculty in the face of political pressure, the Owen Lattimore case represents a situation where university administrators stood firm. This book explores what happened when pressure was put on Johns Hopkins University (Maryland) to punish a faculty member who expressed…

These nine essays address controversial issues of academic freedom and values at the university level. The book, which was derived from two years of debate and lectures presented to national meetings of the American Association of University Professors, is organized in three sections which address such issues as: the purpose of academic freedom,…

Cognitive capitalism--sometimes referred to as "third capitalism," after mercantilism and industrial capitalism--is an increasingly significant theory, given its focus on the socio-economic changes caused by Internet and Web 2.0 technologies that have transformed the mode of production and the nature of labor. The theory of cognitive…

This volume enlarges upon questions concerning censorship and self-censorship and provides case studies as well as theoretical reflection on the relationship between new technology and media freedom. The seven essays included in this collection deal with two central contemporary problems of the mass media--freedom and democracy. The papers are:…

The pamphlet addresses the application of the United States Constitution's First Amendment to offensive expression and expressive conduct, particularly by students, at public colleges and universities. Sections 1 through 4 summarize applicable First Amendment principles including the breadth of the First Amendment; exceptions to content-based…

To determine whether U.S. Supreme Court judges have a systematic attitude toward court cases dealing with the law of newsgathering and fair trial-free press, and whether that attitude can help predict the outcome of the pending case Press-Enterprise Co. v. Superior Court (II), this paper applies an attitudinal theory from the field of social…

The role of the university in moral and value issues are discussed in a 1987 inaugural address by the president of Indiana University. He suggests that a college education should include values through both intellectual inquiry and example. Liberty to speak and write is an essential value if faculty and students are to achieve their academic…

Ellen Schrecker is professor of history at Yeshiva University. Recognized as one of the nation's leading experts on McCarthyism, she has published many books and articles on the subject. Here she writes that while it would be difficult to deny that America's colleges and universities are under siege at the moment, it is hard to tell whether they…

Academic freedom for the professoriate in America is discussed, based on quantitative analysis of almost a thousand cases from the files of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). The cases represent a large sample of the academic freedom and tenure conflicts that developed during a period of more than four decades (1913-1957).…

In "Tucker v. State of California Department of Education," the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled that a public employee has the right to engage in religious advocacy among fellow employees under certain circumstances. Judge Reinhardt suggests that government agencies either ban all employee displays about any topic…