Importance Of Academic Freedom

1821 Words4 Pages

Academic Freedom in Colleges & Universities: A Social Problem Academic Freedom in Colleges & Universities is a social problem in America. Academic freedom is the freedom of teachers and students to teach, study, and pursue knowledge and research without unreasonable interference or restriction from law, institutional regulations, or public pressure. Examples of barred topics can include recent controversies such as the shooting of Mike Brown, Yemen & the upcoming Presidential Election. In Academic Freedom, professors can question any subject. Specifically those that arouse their logical anxiety, they can present their discoveries to their students, colleagues & etc. They also can publish their facts & decisions without control, and professionally …show more content…

Very few cases actually make it to higher courts. During a 2006 Supreme Court case, lower courts have begun to allow higher educational institutions more power to restrain faculty speech lead in the course of official liabilities. Two of the most infamous cases include Sweezy v. New Hampshire in 1957 & Keyishian v. Board of Regents in 1967. This first case involved a professor being terminated for refusing to testify about his political beliefs before the state legislature. The second case was about the New York laws allegedly going against the hiring of subversive professors. Each case ruled in the respective professor’s favor. This emphasized the importance of both individual & institutional academic …show more content…

Academic freedom is something most people don’t think about until it becomes obvious that their stories are the ones being ignored. Topics such as the Spanish-American War, Black Wall Street, George Stinney & etc. are all pieces in American history we either don’t hear of at all, or we only get half the story. A reason why academic freedom is so hard to keep because how many minorities are enrolled in a higher education institution? The less of us there are, then the less our problems matter. My solutions include greater enrollment of minorities & women and outsourced

Open Document