(2018). When Core Values Collide: Diversity, Inclusion, and Free Speech. Liberal Education, v104 n2 Spr. When considering the current state of public discourse about diversity, inclusion, and free speech, Pareena G. Lawrence begins this article on two hopeful notes: First, Americans celebrate diversity more fervently than their peers in other countries, and second, we've gotten through divisive times in our national history before. In the hope that these two points suggest reasons for optimism the author asks how may we argue with one another about issues that are perceived as divisive and troubling. Lawrence then asks readers to consider how faculty and administrators may respond to controversy, and how we can best manage the problems that often surround a controversy–problems of legal rights and responsibilities, safety and security on campus, allocation of budget resources, and–not least–the emotional lives of students. The author touches on what is perhaps the most intractable problem of all: how we may proceed when people do not want to argue, but instead are determined to… [Direct]
(2023). Free Speech, Cancel Culture, Race, Privilege, and Higher Education: An Intersectional Analysis of Netflix's "The Chair". Innovative Higher Education, v48 n5 p949-969 Oct. A Netflix original six-episode series, "The Chair," examines the experiences of a woman faculty of color department chair at the fictional Pembroke College. One of the many stressors she must navigate is a response to an incompetent white male faculty (who is also her love interest) after he makes a Nazi salute during a lecture in class. By watching this series, many viewers learned about how higher education administrators may respond to situations where a faculty member engages in questionable speech. The ensuing drama that occurs on campus in response to the Nazi salute and the students' perceptions that the administration will and can do nothing of consequence to the professor showcases the messiness and intricacies of what has been termed "cancel culture." In this paper, I use intersectional analysis to examine "The Chair" and the messages it sends about race, privilege, and cancel culture in higher education…. [Direct]
(2020). Free Speech and the Inclusive Campus: How Do We Foster the Campus Community We Want?. NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education In today's contentious and divided political environment, what should colleges and universities do to meet the roles and responsibilities of higher education to foster the campus community we want? This guide presents three options for deliberation about difficult problems regarding free speech and inclusion–for which there are no perfect solutions. Each option offers advantages as well as drawbacks, and each reflects different ways of understanding what is at stake, forcing us to think about what matters most to us. These options include: (1) Prioritize student safety and well-being; (2) Affirm the educational value of intellectual curiosity and engaging with ideas across difference; and (3) Uphold the ideals of free speech. The research involved in developing this guide included interviews and conversations with campus stakeholders who have multiple perspectives; the initial drafts were reviewed by individuals with direct experience in student affairs and higher education…. [PDF]
(2017). Free Speech and Slurs: Rights vs. Respect. College Student Journal, v51 n2 p291-297 Sum. Slurs, either spoken or printed, can be classified as expressions of derogation, because their use is a generalized, negative characterization or classification of groups without regard to individual uniqueness. The use of such slurs consequently can cause the target and the listener or reader (i.e., receiver) discomfort, unless the receiver has developed an ability to depersonalize such communication. Due to the potential of derogatory slurs to cause harm, some advocate the implementation of prior restrictions or subsequent sanctions to curb the use of slurs. To do so, however, poses a threat to America's most valued freedom: speech. In this examination of the derogatory aspect of slurs, the authors demonstrate that the guarantee of free speech in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is considered by the courts as so sacred that offensive speech, such as slurs, is protected in public use. Even so, college campuses cannot remain open forums of free expression if students are… [Direct]
(2018). Free Speech Tensions: Responding to Bias on College and University Campuses. Journal of Student Affairs Research and Practice, v55 n1 p27-39. Despite the increasing development of bias response teams on college and university campuses, little scholarship has examined these teams and, in particular, team leaders' approaches to understanding the role of free speech in responding to bias. Through semi-structured interviews, administrators who served on bias response teams at 19 predominantly White institutions described the need to balance free speech with other interests, recognize the nuance of First Amendment protections, and respond with educational conversations…. [Direct]
(2018). United States Court Cases on Student Free Speech from 2009-2017. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, The University of Alabama. School system personnel are charged with numerous difficult, and sometimes conflicting, tasks. One of those tasks is to teach their students about their free speech rights while also maintaining order in the school building. Sometimes, when students choose to exercise those rights the results put administrators in a difficult situation of trying to maintain order while not trampling on a student's Constitutional rights. Further complicating these issues is the fact that many of the governing court cases in student free speech were decided before the invention of the internet, and social media is a hotbed of speech issues. Students' rights to free speech are primarily governed by the "Morse Quartet"–four Supreme Court cases that help to define what is, and is not, allowed speech by students. Courts use the outcomes in these cases to decide if the speech in the case at hand is permissible. Some notable problems to this routine are the fact that cases frequently involve… [Direct]
(2021). Debating Academic Freedom. Educational-Philosophical Premises and Problems. Educational Philosophy and Theory, v53 n11 p1086-1096. In the past years, there has been an intensive discussion on the topic of academic freedom in the university. More precisely, it has been criticized that the university is confronted with a growing intolerance and the request to limit free speech. This contribution takes a case at a German university as point of departure. It shows how the current discussions draw on central figures of the philosophy of Enlightenment. In the first part of the paper, the ideas of free speech following Kant, Mill, and Popper are presented. The second part of the article shows how these positions can also lead to an inversion or instrumentalization of Enlightenment thought. This is illustrated using exemplary statements from the case presented in the beginning of the article. In the third part of the article, the concept of higher education or "Bildung" will be discussed in relation to academic freedom. The guiding principle is an openness toward a pluralistic discourse that is to be framed by… [Direct]
(2016). Teachers, Social Media, and Free Speech. eJEP: eJournal of Education Policy, Spr. Teachers across the United States routinely use social media to improve communication with students and parents, enrich the classroom curriculum, and engage in professional conversations with peers. However, teacher use of social media also has a dark side. Media reports are replete with stories of teachers engaging in inappropriate social networking with students. In addition, teachers have also been disciplined for controversial social media content even when students or other members of the school community are not the intended audience. The trending issue of teachers' inappropriate or controversial use of social media amplifies the need for school leaders to be cognizant of teachers' First Amendment free speech rights and the circumstances permitting school control. A framework is proposed for developing social media policies that balance the First Amendment expression rights of teachers and pedagogical benefits of social media with the need for appropriate limitations…. [PDF]
(2019). When Does Free Speech Become Offensive Speech? Teaching Controversial Issues in Classrooms. Curriculum and Teaching Dialogue, v21 n1-2 p35-50. Grade 12 students in my son's psychology class had been asked to share their deepest reactions and thoughts toward the victims of the "Charlie Hebdo" incident in Paris. "Charlie Hebdo" is a satirical magazine that had published controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad. Students felt sympathetic toward the victims and solely held Islamic extremism responsible for it. During the heated conversations, a female Muslim student stood up and voiced her perspective. Given the teacher's discomfort with the potential reaction to the counter story, he shut down a crucial conversation that could have created a space for critically assessing polarizing debates…. [Direct]
(2018). Civic Aspirations and a New Path Forward for Free Speech on Campus. About Campus, v23 n2 p24-29 May-Jun. Joe Edens discusses the challenges of free speech when such speech includes content that undermines the ideologies of higher education, such as diversity, tolerance, or intellectual rigor. Even in cases of controversial or provocative speech, he believes that the process of free speech should not be hindered and employs John D. Inazu's concept of "confident pluralism"–that we can coexist despite profound difference–to imagine how we can engage deeply with those who hold vastly different perspectives. Though it can be difficult to practice tolerance, patience, and humility during a collision of perspectives, it is necessary to support free and civil discourse…. [Direct]
(2020). Resisting Cancel Culture: Promoting Dialogue, Debate, and Free Speech in the College Classroom. Perspectives on Higher Education. American Council of Trustees and Alumni The author has built one of America's most distinguished careers among defenders of free speech and civil liberties. Cancel culture, presented in this essay, is not a new phenomenon. In this essay, the author marshals a wealth of survey data to show the scope and depth of the growing crisis: Americans feel more pressure to conceal their viewpoints today than during the McCarthy era. Some people–among them many civil libertarians–dismiss or minimize the crisis, making three arguments. The first is that cancel culture amounts to a spate of overhyped anecdotes, not a national problem. But, as the author shows, recent survey evidence finds that Americans are more fearful to voice their real opinions now than at the height of the McCarthy era. Almost a third worry their livelihoods will suffer if they fail to self-censor. On campus and off, millions feel the chill. A second claim is that cancel culture is just criticism, and if people can not stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. But,… [PDF]
(2019). Executive Order to Protect Free Speech on Campus Recognizes Ongoing Challenge. Issue Brief No. 4942. Heritage Foundation The White House released an executive order to protect free speech on college campuses, appropriately highlighting the issue of ongoing threats to expression in the ivory tower. The President and his Administration exercised restraint with this order by directing federal agencies to stay within the bounds of existing law as the agencies implement the directive. Such restraint is welcome because new federal regulations run the risk of interfering with individual rights and making Washington a larger presence in Americans' everyday lives. Now the task remains for state lawmakers to use state proposals to protect free expression in public university systems. Policymakers in Arizona, North Carolina, Georgia, and Wisconsin have already adopted proposals that other states should follow. Key takeaways: (1) President Trump's executive order on campus free speech raises the profile of a critical issue; (2) The order directs agencies to stay within the bounds of existing law while protecting… [PDF]
(2024). The Phenomenon of Cancel Culture through the Social Media: Pedagogical Implications for Teacher Education. Pedagogy, Culture and Society, v32 n5 p1495-1512. This paper suggests that the phenomenon of 'cancel culture' has significant pedagogical implications for teacher education. In particular, the analysis problematises the phenomenon of cancel culture, focusing on how issues relating to race, racism and structural injustice are framed in social media. It is argued that for teacher education programs wrestling with how to guide teachers to deal with cancel culture, it is not enough to emphasise critical thinking, media literacy, debate and free speech. It is also important to avoid reproducing social media's framing of cancel culture as an individualised and psychologised phenomenon, and urge teachers to pay attention to structural issues of race, racism and injustice. It is suggested that despite the political or other risks involved, teacher education programs can make a valuable contribution to public debates by engaging cancel culture in ways that nurture vigilance and restorative justice measures…. [Direct]
(2017). Putting Civility in Its Place–Free Speech in the Classroom. Thought & Action, v33 n2 p91-101 Sum. Academic freedom gives professors broad discretion over expressions and interactions in the classroom. Free speech guidelines and First Amendment protections permit students to speak their minds too, but they offer very limited guidance as to how classrooms should operate. While professors should obviously work within free speech parameters in the classroom, there are two additional principles that should guide their work: the first intellectual and the second civic. First, as part of their commitment to teaching–developing and disseminating knowledge–instructors are bound by intellectual honesty in ways that can in fact limit their expression. Second, college teaching should contribute to the development of civic skills and values. A good college education would include at least some–and ideally many–instructors who see themselves not only as teaching in their field but also as educators who prepare their students for their broader roles in society. In this regard, instructors… [Direct]
(2018). Engendering Social Justice in First Year Information Literacy Classes. Communications in Information Literacy, v12 n2 Article 8 p193-202. Information literacy classes are becoming common on college campuses to help first year students learn information search skills necessary for higher education. Free speech debates on some college campuses have bred a level of student activism not seen since the 1960s. Academic librarians can play a key role to educate students in First Year Information Literacy (FYIL) classes with a social justice context inclusive of race, gender and free speech…. [PDF]