Among the many issues that public school leaders and teachers often deal with is the proper role of religious belief and practice within their schools. The law regarding how the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution applies to the public school context can often seem complex and confusing, with some cases holding that a school improperly…

This plenary address from the AAUP's annual meeting says that it is time to clear away the obfuscating rhetoric and emphasize the urgency of this basic democratic principle. Michael Berube argues that not only is academic freedom under attack, but that what the society is now dealing with is a coordinated program of obfuscation about just what…

The now late great Max Velthuijs was filmed in April 2004 discussing his work with Victoria de Rijke and Howard Hollands, who began the interview expecting Max to be working under certain artistic and cultural influences, none of which seemed to be the case! Max describes what brought him home to Andersen Press, the freedom of children's…

The weaknesses of the Harry Potter series and other controversial literatures, which protect student's liberty of conscience and accomplish the ends of public education, are examined. The ways in which educators show justice to different worldviews when assigning literature are discussed.

This article details the work of Jeffrey Gegner o the Hennepin County Library in Minnetonka, Minnesota. For Jeffrey Gegner, his day job as Adult Materials Selection Specialist for the Hennepin County Library is not that different from his evening job as a country and western nightclub DJ. Gegner is opposed to a literary snobbery he believes is…

Luann Wright, founder and president of NoIndoctrination.org, a Web site devoted to policing professors accused of harassing conservative students in their classrooms, firmly believes that what she's doing is a public service. "The university should be a market place of ideas, a safe place to explore a variety of perspectives," she says. "'But I…

Theoretical and practical issues related to the neuromotor control of a golf swing are presented in this paper. The typical strategy for golf training consists of high volume repetition with an emphasis on a large variety of isolated swing characteristics. The student is frequently instructed to maintain consistent performance in each swing with…

In many countries, reporters and editors face criminal prosecution, censorship, self-censorship, exile, tax audits, loss of broadcast and publication licenses, loss of jobs, assault, and even assassination based on how they practice their profession. Press rights and human rights advocacy groups try to draw media and official attention to those…

Thomas Crawford, an American Sculptor, created the full-size figure of Freedom in clay. Molds were made, from which a full-size positive plaster model was cast in five main sections. This model is on view today in the basement rotunda of the Russell Senate Office Building. Clark Mills was a self-taught American sculptor with experience in casting…

The introduction of Workforce Remodelling poses profound questions about 21st century teacher professionalism. Here Patrick Yarker explores, not only the dangers and duplicity of one particular "reform." These moving, insightful reflections of a gifted, courageous teacher expose the personal and professional dilemmas that will always face those…

In this article, we examine the invocation of Socrates as the exemplar for Earl Shorris' Clemente Course in the Humanities program. Our aim is to temper Shorris' claim that the Socratic method and the humanities are tools for political liberation. Though they may have this consequence, they are not exhausted by this consequence. Rather, this…

Most universities nowadays are in a middle of a crisis which involves academic freedom, faculty morale, inefficient use of time and resources, and most crucial, the nature of a liberal arts education. This crisis has emerged due to a seemingly innocuous goal: that of finding a way to "assess" how much students are learning. Assessment fails to…

Administrative approval of his proposed course on political correctness came as a surprise to Heinz Klatt, a veteran of many run-ins with the PC establishment. Professor Klatt describes the genesis and nature of his course and offers tips that may come in handy for those who would replicate such studies elsewhere. (Contains 4 notes.)

In this article, the authors assert that the leadership and management of higher education is now operating in a fundamentally different context and ideological terrain to the one that existed up to the 1980s, and that this is now materially affecting the core function of universities--learning, teaching, and research. The dominating frame of…

In this article, the author discusses the quandary encountered by school officials at Poway High School in California in April 2004 when a student wore a T-shirt that reads, "Be ashamed, our school embraced what God has condemned" on the front and "Homosexuality is shameful--Romans 1:27" on the back. The student wore that…