The idea of “academic freedom” in American higher education is a fairly new concept. Before a recent change in educational practices, religious ideals were deeply rooted in higher education curriculum. By the late-twentieth century, however, the idea of academic freedom became more prevalent across the higher education community. As a result, the influence of religion played a lesser role in the development of curriculum across colleges and universities as professors seized their newly granted academic freedom. With the advent of the modern liberal movement in the United States, the atmosphere in colleges and universities has become increasingly oppressive of Christianity in the name of “academic freedom”. This issue was effectively characterized in William Buckley’s God and Man at Yale: The Superstitions of “Academic Freedom”. Dating back to the medieval-era in world history, religion played a key role in higher education. With the Catholic Church at the apex of the social hierarchy throughout the Middle Ages and early modern period in world history, religious influence was prevalent across the world of academia (“Academic” 16). As religious unrest and the questioning of society grew during the sixteenth century, however, religion began to play a lesser role in higher education. The most significant schism in the academic world corresponded with Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. Darwin’s evolutionary theory significantly discounted the Christian idea of creationism, causing a great split in pedagogical foundations. Most institutions initially favored creationist theory or were indifferent when choosing faculty for their schools (“Academic” 17). However, as the idea of academic freedom proliferated in the United States during... ... middle of paper ... ...t century, the issue of Christian oppression at American institutions of higher education may have never been more prevalent. As the world continues to embrace the modern concept of “cultural relativism” and a more secular approach to education, attitudes toward Christian faith continue to deteriorate. With the “new” academic freedom corresponding with modern liberal ideology, the “old”, “original” academic freedom that is truly needed to advance society will diminish in the face of a world embracing relativism. Works Cited "Academic Freedom." Social Issues in America: An Encyclopedia. Armonk, NY: Myron E. Sharpe, 2006. Print. Buckley, William F.. God and Man at Yale; The Superstitions of Academic Freedom. Chicago: Regnery, 1951. Print. Carpenter, Lucas. "Religion And The Liberal Arts Education." Humanist 67.2 (2007): 25. MasterFILE Premier. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.
In Inherit the Wind, a 1960s film adaptation directed by Stanley Kramer, the battle between religion and science was tested, portrayed through the Scopes Trial of 1925. In the trail, John Scopes, a high school science teacher, was accused and convicted of teaching Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, curriculum that was forbidden by Tennessee state law. It is clear that a focal point of the film was the discussion of whether religion should be the driving force behind education, or if science and empirical study is a better alternative. This discussion is alive and well in 2017, crucial in a time where Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, is a known believer in theories of ‘intelligent design,’ a theory that suggests divine guidance in the
In cases having to do with constitutionality, the issue of the separation of church and state arises with marked frequency. This battle, which has raged since the nation?s founding, touches the very heart of the United States public, and pits two of the country's most important influences of public opinion against one another. Although some material containing religious content has found its way into many of the nation's public schools, its inclusion stems from its contextual and historical importance, which is heavily supported by material evidence and documentation. It often results from a teacher?s own decision, rather than from a decision handed down from above by a higher power. The proposal of the Dover Area School District to include instruction of intelligent design in biology classes violates the United States Constitution by promoting an excessive religious presence in public schools.
In the editorial “Coddling of the American Mind,” Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt examine the political correctness on college campuses and how it may be hurting students’ mental health. They explain by allowing campuses to discuss words, ideas, and subjects that can cause discomfort or give offense can provide positive attributes like helping students to produce better arguments and more productive discussions over differences. Does Lukianoff and Haidt provide sufficient evidence about how college campuses should raise attention about the need to balance freedom of speech to help students in their future and education to lead the reader to agree with their argument? The answer is yes,
Throughout the article “The New Liberal Arts,” Ungar masks an unsound argument with emotion and perceived credibility. Ungar presents himself as a credible source due to his interaction and experience as a presidents at a liberal arts institution. Though he presents himself with knowledge, the arguments he draws attention to are poorly developed and lack any solid background information to why he is right over the opposing
The Scopes Trial, which was also known as ‘The Monkey Trial’ or The State of Tennessee vs. Scopes, was a very popular legal dispute in court that was between the theory of evolution and creationism, and played a major role which shaped the 1920’s. What was just as popular was the interpretation of the case, if not more than the actual result of the dispute. This case received world-wide attention and the media coverage produced many different opinions world-wide. A major factor of why the Scopes trial had received so much attention in such an insignificant town was because of the stage the trial was played out on. The Butler Act is what made the Scopes trial possible. The Butler Act stated that it was prohibited for public schools in Tennessee from teaching evolution, or to go against the words of the Biblical story of creationism. The Act made it ‘unlawful for any teacher in in any of the Universities, Normals and all other public schools of the state which are supported in whole or in part by the public funds of the state, to teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible and to teach instead that man has described from lower order of animals’.
Jon H. Roberts and James Turner, The Sacred and the Secular University, (Princeton University press,2000).29
Herbert, Anne, and Janne Tienari. "Transplanting Tenure And The (Re)Construction Of Academic Freedoms." Studies In Higher Education 38.2 (2013): 157-173. Academic Search Complete. Web. 10 Mar. 2014.
This week's assignment has taught me a lot about religious oppression and how it's affecting our world today. One thing that I really found interesting is religious diversity in schools in America. While reading section 58 in our textbook, I grasped more information about the different ways religion has an effect on the lives of students on a school campus. While discussing religion in a school setting; I believe that it is important to remember that a
Even though the tradition is longer than the university, the Catholic college serves as a platform to maintain, communicate, and advance it. In Mary Ellen O’Donnell’s essay, she quotes Father Leo Ward from the University of Notre Dame, who claims, “Just as we reject the principle of divorcing faith and works, so we reject the principle and the practice of divorcing the life of faith and the life of study,” (O’Donnell 43). Meaning, Catholic universities aren’t disconnecting faith from their education. Specifically, these institutions have played a crucial role in the cultivation of the intellectual heritage. Today, most things are done through reason alone. The Catholic university’s role is to maintain the relationship between faith and reason. Even though, as what O’Donnell describes, The Catholic Intellectual can be seen as an oxymoron, the Catholic university is committed to keeping the tradition a part of their overall mission. More importantly, these institutions try and reinforce faith and reason to solve complex problems of the world, and by doing so, they are furthering the advancement of the living tradition. O’Donnell adds, “With the criteria of the Catholic intellectual tradition at the heart of their mission and identity, then Catholic universities and colleges bear much of the burden of keeping the tradition alive and encouraging its growth and development,” (O’Donnell 61-62). Because the need for both faith and reason in the world is so imperative, without Catholic colleges, the tradition’s chance to continue to be living would significantly
The Scopes trial, writes Edward Larson, to most Americans embodies “the timeless debate over science and religion.” (265) Written by historians, judges, and playwrights, the history of the Scopes trial has caused Americans to perceive “the relationship between science and religion in . . . simple terms: either Darwin or the Bible was true.” (265) The road to the trial began when Tennessee passed the Butler Act in 1925 banning the teaching of evolution in secondary schools. It was only a matter of time before a young biology teacher, John T. Scopes, prompted by the ACLU tested the law. Spectators and newspapermen came from allover to witness whether science or religion would win the day. Yet below all the hype, the trial had a deeper meaning. In Summer for the Gods, Edward Larson argues that a more significant battle was waged between individual liberty and majoritarian democracy. Even though the rural fundamentalist majority legally banned teaching evolution in 1925, the rise of modernism, started long before the trial, raised a critical question for rural Americans: should they publicly impose their religious beliefs upon individuals who believed more and more in science.
Free speech on college campuses has been a heavily debated topic in academia and in recent years it has made a comeback. There are many perspectives to the restriction and allowance of free speech. From the past court cases the rulings decided student’s speech can be punished if it disrupts school, is indecent, and if it is associated with the school. (Ross 176). However, this was in the case of high school students and during that time the court had ruled that there is a difference between a high school environment and a university environment. “In 1981, the Court declined to protect university students from religious messages because university students are young adults who are ‘less impressionable than younger students’” (Ross 176). Not
Since the Age of the Enlightenment, the institution of religion has had to contend with the opposition of science regarding the issues of the origins of the world and of the human species. Up until around the end of the 17th century, the church was the authority on how the world and everything in it had come to be. However, with the great intellectual revolution came thinkers such as Galileo, Copernicus, Bacon, Descartes, and many others who challenged the biblical assumptions with empirically deduced scientific theories. The Catholic Church had a nasty habit of persecuting such ideological dissent toward creationism, calling it heresy and thereby somewhat suppressing a complete upheaval of the Scriptures. For many centuries to come, the scientific research grew and developed into theories like the Big Bang and evolution, though primarily in places where such progress was tolerated. The state of Tennessee in 1925 was not such a place. In the town of Dayton in Tennessee, a high school biology teacher was found to be in violation of a recently passed law, the Butler Act, because he taught the theory of evolution in his classroom. The debate that ensued has yet to be resolved, what with the modification of creationism into the theory of intelligent design. The argument in favor of creationism was solely based in scripture, though it had to be changed in light of its revamping, whereas the argument for evolution has only been strengthened by continued scientific discoveries.
Snider, M. A. (2004). Viewpoint discrimination by public unversities: student religious organizations and violations of university nondiscrimination policies. Wash. & Lee L. Rev., 61, 841
"The ACLU and Freedom of Religion and Belief." American Civil Liberties. (2013): n. page. Web. 2013.
Abelman, R., & Dalessandro, A. (2009). Institutional Vision in Christian Higher Education: A Comparison of ACCU, ELCA, and CCCU Institutions. Journal of Research on Christian Education, 18(1), 84-119. Retrieved October 6, 2011 from http://library.gcu.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=37208318&site=ehost-live&scope=site