Welcome to the APA Mini-Series Blog organized by the APA Committee on Professional Rights and Academic Freedom, formerly, the Committee on the Professional Rights of Philosophers. We changed our name last year in order to highlight the centrality of Academic Freedom to our charge. Given recent events, it was not a moment too soon.
In order to promote discussion of issues relating to professional rights and academic freedom, we have created this mini-series blog to provide a forum for philosophers to present their ideas on these topics. We welcome all contributions that provide insights and practical advice regarding the professional rights of philosophers and academic freedom in general.
The following three inaugural posts to this mini-series were originally papers presented at the Eastern Division Meeting of the APA for a panel on “Issues in Faculty Speech: What Can Philosophy Contribute?” Our committee thought it would be useful to ask a group of panelists what, given our philosophical expertise, we can contribute to our understanding of questions about faculty speech, and, also how can the discipline of philosophy help to foster the “freedom of thought, of inquiry, or discussion and of teaching” that academic freedom is meant to protect?
The inaugural blog posts speak to these issues from a range of perspectives. Shannon Dea, Dean of the Faculty of the Arts and Professor, the Department of Philosophy and Classics at the University of Regina, discusses the important role philosophers have played in the history of academic freedom and expresses the hope that, given the recurring threat of authoritarian and nationalistic suppression of academic freedom, philosophy can continue to play that role. Russell Marcus, Christian A. Johnson Excellence in Teaching Professor of Philosophy at Hamilton University, emphasizes the importance of trust and candor in the classroom, and Mark Satta, Associate Professor of philosophy, linguistics, and member of the law faculty at Wayne State University, writes about the concept of freedom of discussion as the kind of positive liberty that academic freedom should secure for university communities. He then provides an argument for the idea that students also have academic freedom.
We hope you enjoy these excellent contributions to our Mini-Series blog. Please contact Melissa Zinkin if you would like to submit a short paper to this blog on any topic related to academic freedom and the professional rights of philosophers.
The post Introducing APA mini series: Professional Rights and Academic Freedom first appeared on Blog of the APA.
Read the full article which is published on APA Online (external link)
