Assaults on public higher education have deep cultural and political roots in the United States. Yet the perils university faculty face today are especially acute, including sanctions from legislators and donors, social media harassment, violent threats and other forms of intimidation. Curricula and research specializations are subject to unprecedented public scrutiny and criticism. In short, the contemporary political landscape has reshaped the contours of academic freedom at public universities.
Galvanized by these new forces and phenomena, the University Oregon’s Office of the Provost (OtP) will host an online conference devoted to Academic Freedom and the Public University on October 14, 2022. Building on the University’s public defense of academic freedom, we invite faculty and administrators from the PAC-12 (comprised of R1 public universities in the West) and other colleges and universities in the Pacific Northwest to participate. This conference will focus on external interference from politicians, civil society, and the media that constrain or impede the faculty exercise of its academic freedom. In addition to stimulating vigorous discussion, both within and across universities, this conference aims to identify institutional strategies, policies, and practices that successfully promote, bolster, and protect the faculty’s academic freedom.
Keynote Speakers
Lynn Pasquerella
President of AAC&U
Eric K. Ward
Senior Advisor at Western States Center
Irene Mulvey
President of AAUP
James Grossman
Executive Director of AHA
Sumi Cho
Director of Strategic Initiatives at AAPF
Panels and Panelists
PANEL #1: POLITICAL INTERFERENCE
The last few years have seen increasing coercion by state actors, including governors and state legislatures, in academic matters such as curricula, pedagogy, expert testimony, and public speech. In this panel, participants will discuss the distinct threat this growing political (and politicized) climate of surveillance and control poses to academic freedom.
Moderator: Joe Lowndes, Professor and Provost’s Fellow, University of Oregon
| Panelist | Position |
|---|---|
| Lynn Comella | Professor and Chair, Department of Interdisciplinary, Gender, and Ethnic Studies, UNLV 2021-2022 Fellow at the University of California Center for Free Speech & Civic Engagement |
| Sharon Wright Austin | Professor, University of Florida |
| Jonathan Friedman | Director, Free Expression and Education Programs, PEN America |
| Christopher Newfield |
Director of Research at the Independent Social Research Foundation |
PANEL #2: DONORS, MEDIA, AND CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS
This panel will discuss the role of civil society organizations, donors, and the media that are showing an increased interest in academic matters such as scholarship, curricula, programming, and pedagogy. Though universities value their relationships with these entities, there are instances of interference from these groups that present challenges to administrators, impact faculty and students, and impinge on academic freedom.
Moderator: Charise Cheney, Associate Professor and Provost Fellow, University of Oregon
| Panelist | Position |
|---|---|
| Ralph Wilson |
Author of Free Speech and Koch Money and Co-founder and Research Director of the Corporate Genome Project |
| Isaac Kamola |
Author of Free Speech and Koch Money |
| Katy Krieger | Project Manager, University of Oregon |
| Cassandra Woody | Assistant Teaching Professor, University of Oklahoma |
| George Ciccariello-Maher | Visiting Associate Professor, Vassar College |
PANEL #3: NEW DIRECTIONS IN THE STUDY OF ACADEMIC FREEDOM
This panel will offer a discussion on the threats and challenges to academic freedom posed by current debates about memory laws, the teaching of national histories, and the censorship of critical histories of the nation-state throughout the country. Critical Race Theory, for instance, has been targeted as a body of scholarship that counters the epic narrative of white settler colonialism in the U.S. and the academic freedom of scholars working within that particular framework is currently under attack. The panel will stage some of these debates as presented in the forthcoming issue of the Journal of Academic Freedom under the title “Memory Laws or Gag Laws? Disinformation Meets Academic Freedom.”
Moderator: Pedro García-Caro, Associate Professor and Provost Fellow, University of Oregon
| Panelist | Position |
|---|---|
| Lori Latrice Martin | Associate Dean in the College of Humanities and Social Sciences Professor, Louisiana State University JAF contributor |
| Michael Dreiling | Professor, University of Oregon Past President of United Academics (Faculty Union) Past President of AAUP Oregon JAF co-editor |
| Tabitha Morton | Assistant Professor, Prairie View A&M University JAF contributor |
Conference Schedule - October 14
| Time | Topic | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 9:00 - 9:15 a.m. | Opening Remarks by Interim President Patrick Phillips | |
| 9:15 - 9:45 a.m. | Keynote: Lynn Pasquerella | Introduction by Acting Provost Janet Woodruff-Borden |
| 9:45 - 10:00 a.m. | Break | |
| 10:00 - 10:45 a.m. | Panel #1: Political Interference | Moderator: Joe Lowndes |
| 10:45 - 11:00 a.m. | Break | |
| 11:00 - 11:30 a.m. | Keynote: Eric Ward | Introduction by Joe Lowndes |
| 11:30 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. | Panel #2: Donors, Media, and Civil Society Organizations | Moderator: Charise Cheney |
| 12:15 - 1:00 p.m. | Break | |
| 1:00 - 1:30 p.m. | Keynote: Irene Mulvey | Introduction by Pedro García-Caro |
| 1:30 - 2:00 p.m. | Keynote: Jim Grossman | Introduction by Gabe Paquette |
| 2:00 - 2:45 p.m. | Panel #3: New Directions in the Study of Academic Freedom | Moderator: Pedro García-Caro |
| 2:45 - 3:15 p.m. | Keynote: Sumi Cho | Introduction by Kevin Reed, Vice President and General Counsel |
| 3:15 - 3:20 p.m. | Concluding remarks by the Office of the Provost | |
| 3:20 - 3:30 p.m. | Transition time for in-person event at UO | |
| 3:30 - 5:00 p.m. | In-person reception |