Academic Freedom Under Siege: What, Why, and What Is to Be Done

Abstract

This chapter summarizes the major themes and arguments of the book but with additional examples and explanations in a more global perspective. Specific topics discussed here are: (1) What is academic freedom; (2) Whether it is a universal value; (3) How academic freedom is under siege, focusing on some indicators and stressors of academic freedom such as shared governance and tenure, the pursuit of international rankings and its effect on research, student evaluations of teaching, other mechanisms of faculty control in teaching, and extramural speech; (4) Why it is under siege, i.e., the ideological and political factors behind the erosion or lack of academic freedom; (5) How faculty can face the challenges; and (6) Conclusion.