In response to emerging challenges, the Harvard Institutes
for Higher Education has organized a two-day seminar to explore the current
state and future direction of academic freedom within U.S. higher education.
About
the Seminar
A
new and distinctive set of forces is reshaping long-standing views of
academic freedom within the academy—forces with the potential to
redefine the future thinking
and actions of colleges and universities across the country.
New legislation, enacted
in the context of a post-9/11 world, has called into question
long-standing notions of free expression and prompted reassessment
of the limits to personal privacy and First Amendment guarantees.
State
legislatures and the U.S. Congress have considered enacting various
forms of an academic bill of rights—measures aimed
at ridding U.S. colleges and universities of political and other forms
of bias. The Ford Foundation announced
a new initiative to highlight and reinforce the value of the free exchange
of ideas on campus.
Increasingly, higher education leaders are being forced
to confront formidable challenges as they
strive to balance freedom of expression with concerns about institutional
security and safety.
The seminar, scheduled
for November 10-11, 2006 at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, will bring higher education leaders together to explore a wide range of issues related to academic freedom, discussing and debating the current state of discourse within the academy.
The Seminar Will Consider The Following Topics
• |
Legal precedent and recent
legal developments, including the USA Patriot Act and U.S. Supreme Court opinion
on the Solomon amendment, that bear on academic freedom |
• |
Recent
challenges to academic freedom, their significance to institutions,
and their implications for administrators
|
• |
Two “living case studies” designed to highlight practical ramifications of recent shifts in the traditional notions of academic freedom. |
Plenary Sessions
Protecting and Promoting Academic Freedom
in Perilous Times • Alison R. Bernstein, Vice President, Knowledge, Creativity and Freedom Program, The Ford Foundation
This session examines how a philanthropic organization works with colleges, universities and other key academic institutions to strengthen the commitment to free and critical expression on campus.
Using recent examples drawn from the Difficult Dialogues initiative–a Ford Foundation sponsored project designed to help colleges and universities address reports of growing intolerance and efforts to curb academic freedom on their campuses–Bernstein will lead an interactive discussion on how outside funding agencies influence, and are influenced by, campus controversies. Bernstein will draw on her 25 years of experience at the Ford Foundation and her own observations on the current state of academic freedom.
Legal Precedent & Academic Freedom: Crafting Campus Policy • Robert W. Iuliano, Vice President and General Counsel
Harvard University
This session provides important overview information on the past practice and future direction of academic freedom within U.S. higher education.
Iuliano will clarify the legal context for academic freedom by reviewing formal statutes, relevant case law, significant court findings, and important legal precedents that have defined and framed the academy’s historic understanding of academic freedom. Iuliano shares observations and suggestions on how college and university administrators should craft thoughtful policy in this area and effectively manage academic freedom-related matters.
Academic Freedom: New Challenges in a Changing Landscape • Robert O’Neil, Director, Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression: Former President, University of Virginia and University of Wisconsin System
While arguing that many of the core principles associated with academic freedom remain strong, O’Neil also believes that higher education institutions are confronting a number of new challenges and threats to free expression and open campus discourse.
Emerging issues like the nature of academic freedom in cyberspace, threats to personal privacy and other potential constraints on traditional faculty/student interaction, and new challenges to freedom of expression in the arts are examples of a newly-emerging context within which many “old” ways of setting institutional policy and implementing campus programs may no longer be appropriate. O’Neil shares insights and ideas on the future direction of academic freedom drawn from research for an upcoming book on this topic. His perspective on these issues is informed by his current role as Program Director of the Ford Foundation’s Difficult Dialogues initiative.
Academic Freedom: A Living Case Study • David Paris, Senior Fellow,
Association of American Colleges and Universities; Former Vice President for Academic Affairs & Dean of the Faculty Hamilton College
In spring 2004, Hamilton College extended an invitation to Ward Churchill to speak about political prisoners and prison issues. Several months later, after controversial comments contained in Professor Churchill’s writings (most notably, an inflammatory essay on the 9/11 World Trade Center attack) were reported throughout the media, the college was inundated with telephone calls and e-mails protesting his appearance. Citing credible threats of violence, Hamilton decided to cancel the Churchill speech.
During the ensuing year, a heated campaign unfolded for the alumni trustee positions on the Hamilton board. Many attributed this demonstration of alumni activism, at least in part, to the institution’s handling of the Churchill matter. Paris will present the Hamilton story as a “living case study,” sharing leadership insights and lessons learned, and facilitating consideration of broader administrative implications of the Hamilton experience for other institutions.
Academic Freedom: A Living Case Study • Laura McGann, Journalist, Dow Jones Newswire.
While completing a graduate project in the spring of 2006 at the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, McGann uncovered a secret effort by the U.S. Department of Education to share personal information on hundreds of student loan applicants with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The program, known as Project Strike Back, was designed to determine whether suspected terrorists might be financing their activities through federal financial aid programs by using student identities.
McGann will discuss what she encountered when developing and reporting this story, with particular emphasis on how her experience illuminates current challenges associated with balancing civil liberties, national security, and privacy considerations.
Faculty
Alison R. Bernstein, Vice President, Knowledge, Creativity and Freedom Program, The Ford Foundation. Bernstein is responsible for the direction, conduct and evaluation of the Foundation’s work in the United States and internationally in the fields of education and scholarship, arts and culture, media, religion and sexuality. She joined the Foundation in 1982 as a Program Officer and subsequently served as Director of the Education and Culture Program. A former Associate Dean of Faculty at Princeton University, Bernstein is the author of three books.
Robert W. Iuliano, Vice President and General Counsel, Harvard University. Iuliano is responsible for all legal work arising from Harvard faculty and department activities. He graduated from Harvard College and the University of Virginia School of Law. After clerking for the Honorable Levin H. Campbell of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, he worked in the labor and litigation departments of the Boston law firm Choate, Hall & Stewart. Subsequently, he was an Assistant United States Attorney with the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force in Boston.
Robert M. O’Neil, Director, Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression. O’Neil also serves as a member of the University of Virginia’s law faculty, teaching courses in free speech and the press, free expression in the arts, free speech and cyberspace, and other areas of constitutional law. He is the former President of the University of Virginia and University of Wisconsin System, and has also served as Provost of the University of Cincinnati and Vice President of Indiana University.
David Paris, Senior Fellow, Association of American Colleges and Universities. Paris is currently working on the LEAP (Liberal Education and America's Promise) initiative and on a book on rhetoric and higher education. Previously, he was Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty at Hamilton College. His areas of expertise are public policy and political theory. Paris is the author of Ideology and Educational Reform: Themes and Theories in Public Education and numerous articles including "Liberal Education: An Overlapping Pragmatic Consensus."
Laura McGann, Journalist, Dow Jones Newswire. While at the Medill School of Journalism, McGann was named Carnegie Corp. and Knight Foundation News21 reporting fellow. It was during this fellowship that McGann uncovered the data-mining program run by the U.S. Department of Education on behalf of the FBI. In addition, she has covered Hill for a paper in California, worked the criminal courthouse beat in Chicago, and interned at Consumer Reports and CBS 2 Chicago.
General Information
Program Format
The program includes plenary and small group discussion sessions designed to highlight important policy considerations and practical insights for higher education administrators.
Program Fee
The $895 program fee includes all presentations, a resource binder, some meals, and an opening reception on Thursday, November 9. The program fee is due within 30 days of registration.
Cancellation Policy
Cancellations must be made in writing. Full refunds will be granted until October 9, 2006. Cancellations between October 9 and October 20 will be subject to $150 administration fee. Cancellations after October 20 and no shows are subject to full payment.
The Harvard Graduate School of Education reserves the right to change
faculty or cancel the program at its discretion. In the unlikely event of changes,
the school is not responsible for non-refundable travel arrangements or other
planning costs incurred.
Hotel Reservations
Room reservations are the responsibility of individual conference participants.
A limited number of rooms have been set aside at the Sheraton
Commander Hotel in Harvard Square.
Single/Double $155 per night plus
tax
Reservations must be made prior to October 24, 2006
Reference: Rethinking Academic Freedom
http://www.sheratoncommander.com
For a listing of local accommodations please click
here.
Further Information
Please contact us at 800-545-1849 or hihe@gse.harvard.edu |
