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The official podcast of the Academic Freedom Alliance, a nonpartisan and ideologically diverse coalition of faculty members committed to defending free speech in academia. We interview a diverse array of scholars about the latest developments in the academic freedom movement, from breaking news, to precedent-setting court cases, to modern takes on the timeless principles that underlie professorial free speech. Learn more about the AFA at www.AcademicFreedom.org.
Episodes
Tuesday Sep 13, 2022
Mitch Daniels on Promoting Campus Free Speech
Tuesday Sep 13, 2022
Tuesday Sep 13, 2022
The AFA's Keith Whittington interviews Mitch Daniels, the outgoing president of Purdue University and former Republican Governor of Indiana. During his time at Purdue, President Daniels has carved out a national reputation as a leader on campus free speech issues. Daniels shares the principles and practices he has followed to dramatically improve Purdue's rating as a defender of academic freedom. The university most recently appeared at number three on FIRE's College Free Speech Rankings.
Wednesday Jul 06, 2022
A Conversation with Professor Eugene Volokh
Wednesday Jul 06, 2022
Wednesday Jul 06, 2022
Monday Apr 18, 2022
Protecting Controversial Speech On and Off Campus
Monday Apr 18, 2022
Monday Apr 18, 2022
The AFA's Keith Whittington interviews Professor David Rabban of the University of Texas Law School, a member of the AFA's Academic Committee and former general counsel for the American Association of University Professors, about the importance of protecting both intramural and extramural speech. Drawing from recent high profile cases in which professors were sanctioned by their employers over statements made on social media and in podcast interviews, Whittington and Rabban explore how the principles of academic freedom apply to faculty both on and off campus, in their lives as scholars and as citizens.
Wednesday Feb 23, 2022
The Case for Tenure: A Rebuttal to Proposals in Texas
Wednesday Feb 23, 2022
Wednesday Feb 23, 2022
Friday Feb 18, 2022
Reaching Bipartisan Consensus on Campus Free Expression
Friday Feb 18, 2022
Friday Feb 18, 2022
The AFA's Keith Whittington interviews Dan Cullen, Professor of Philosophy at Rhodes College. Professor Cullen was a member of the Bipartisan Policy Center's Academic Freedom Task Force on Campus Free Expression, which recently published its report, Campus Free Expression: A New Roadmap. In this wide ranging discussion, Whittington and Cullen cover key findings of the report, how those findings relate to recent controversies, and the most salient takeaways for universities and policymakers.
Monday Feb 07, 2022
On SUNY Fredonia, Moral Philosophy, and Forbidden Questions
Monday Feb 07, 2022
Monday Feb 07, 2022
In this special edition of the Academic Freedom Podcast, the AFA's Keith Whittington interviews Jeff McMahan, the Sekyra and White’s Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Oxford, about the current controversy at SUNY Fredonia involving Professor Stephen Kershnar. An applied ethicist and distinguished teaching professor of philosophy, Prof. Kershnar has been placed under administrative review and barred from campus for conducting research and making statements in a YouTube interview about "adult-child sex."
The Academic Freedom Alliance sent a letter to SUNY Fredonia in defense of Prof. Kershnar's academic freedom and partnered with the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) to draft an open letter from philosophy faculty in support of his right to tackle difficult questions.
Tuesday Jan 18, 2022
The Fight for Academic Freedom at the University of Florida
Tuesday Jan 18, 2022
Tuesday Jan 18, 2022
In October 2021, three University of Florida (UF) professors were told by the University's Conflict of Interest Office that they would not be allowed to be expert witnesses in a voting-rights lawsuit against the state, sparking an outcry over academic freedom. In this episode of the Academic Freedom Podcast, the AFA's Keith Whittington interviews two UF professors who were at the center of the faculty Senate's effort to push back on the decision. Raymond Issa is the chair of the Faculty Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Academic Freedom, which was set up to review the University's decision, and Danaya Wright is a member of the committee. They discuss the findings of the report released by the ad hoc committee in December.
Thursday Dec 16, 2021
What Can We Learn from the Top Ranked College for Academic Freedom?
Thursday Dec 16, 2021
Thursday Dec 16, 2021
The AFA's Keith Whittington interviews Hiram E. Chodosh, president of Claremont McKenna College. Under President Chodosh's leadership, Claremont McKenna has been widely recognized for its commitment to academic freedom. It was the recipient of the Institutional Excellence Award from the Heterodox Academy in 2019. For the past two years, it was the top ranked school in the free speech rankings by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE).
Thursday Dec 02, 2021
How University Administrators Can Foster a Culture of Free Speech
Thursday Dec 02, 2021
Thursday Dec 02, 2021
The AFA's Keith Whittington interviews Howard Gillman, chancellor of the University of California, Irvine. Chancellor Gillman is an award-winning scholar and teacher with an expertise in the American Constitution and the Supreme Court. He holds faculty appointments in the School of Law, the Department of Political Science, the Department of History, and the Department of Criminology, Law and Society and every year teaches an undergraduate seminar. He also provides administrative oversight to, and serves as co-chair of the advisory board of, the University of California’s National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement.
Monday Nov 01, 2021
Understanding Academic Freedom with AAUP‘s Hank Reichman
Monday Nov 01, 2021
Monday Nov 01, 2021
The AFA's Keith Whittington interviews Hank Reichman, professor emeritus of history at California State University-East Bay, former AAUP vice president, and former chair of the AAUP’s Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure from 2012 to 2021. Reichman is the author of the recently released book Understanding Academic Freedom from Johns Hopkins University Press.