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Indiana Law Journal

First Amendment

Higher Education

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Full-Text Articles in Law

The Social Value Of Academic Freedom Defended, J. Peter Byrne Dec 2015

The Social Value Of Academic Freedom Defended, J. Peter Byrne

Indiana Law Journal

In his recent book, Versions of Academic Freedom: From Professionalism to Revolution, Stanley Fish renewed his arguments for an “it’s just a job” account of academic freedom, begun in his 2008 book, Save the World on Your Own Time. He claims that academic freedom consists of nothing more than the conditions necessary to follow the established criteria for scholarship and teaching within each discipline. He complains chiefly against the invocation of academic freedom to protect or glorify political advocacy by academics. There is a lot in Fish’s account to admire and agree with. The appropriate sphere of academic freedom needs …


Academic Duty And Academic Freedom, Amy Gadja Dec 2015

Academic Duty And Academic Freedom, Amy Gadja

Indiana Law Journal

On December 31, 1915, the newly formed American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and its Committee on Academic Freedom and Academic Tenure accepted a set of guidelines designed to shape the organization and its work to protect academics against the termination power of their employer-universities. The “General Declaration of Principles,” drafted by approximately a dozen educators who were called from universities across the country, begins with a decided focus on the rights of individuals within the academy: “The term ‘academic freedom’ has traditionally had two applications,” the language reads at the start, “to the freedom of the teacher and to …


The Regrettable Underenforcement Of Incompetence As Cause To Dismiss Tenured Faculty, David M. Rabban Dec 2015

The Regrettable Underenforcement Of Incompetence As Cause To Dismiss Tenured Faculty, David M. Rabban

Indiana Law Journal

Universities are extremely reluctant to dismiss tenured professors for incompetence. This reluctance compromises the convincing and broadly accepted justification for the protection of academic freedom through tenure set forth in the 1915 Declaration of Principles of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP). After asserting that society benefits from the academic freedom of professors to express their professional views without fear of dismissal, the 1915 Declaration maintained that the grant of permanent tenure following a probationary period of employment protects academic freedom. Yet the 1915 Declaration also stressed that academic freedom does not extend to expression that fails to meet …