Definitions of Academic Freedom
There is no single universally accepted definition of academic freedom. Representatives of prominent organizations associated with defending academic freedom are often debating the proper way in which the concept should be interpreted and applied. Despite the ambiguity, academic freedom remains a cornerstone of the university’s goal of producing and transmitting knowledge. The bullet points below provide definitions from several prominent organizations, including the Universities of Wisconsin.
- Universities of Wisconsin: Academic freedom includes the freedom to explore all avenues of scholarship, research, and creative expression, and to reach conclusions according to one’s own scholarly discernment.
- American Federation of Teachers: Academic freedom is the right of faculty members, acting both as individuals and as a collective, to determine without outside interference: (1) the college curriculum; (2) course content; (3) teaching; (4) student evaluation; and (5) the conduct of scholarly inquiry.
- American Association of University Professors: Academic freedom is the freedom of a teacher or researcher in higher education to investigate and discuss the issues in his or her academic field, and to teach and publish findings without interference from administrators, boards of trustees, political figures, donors, or other entities. Academic freedom also protects the right of a faculty member to speak freely when participating in institutional governance, as well as to speak freely as a citizen.
- The academic freedom of faculty members consists of four interrelated elements:
- Teaching: freedom to discuss all relevant matters in the classroom;
- Research: freedom to explore all avenues of scholarship, research, and creative expression and to publish the results of such work;
- Intramural speech: freedom from institutional censorship or discipline when addressing matters of institutional policy or action; and
- Extramural speech: freedom from institutional censorship or discipline when speaking or writing as citizens.
- The academic freedom of faculty members consists of four interrelated elements:
- FIRE: Academic freedom gives faculty the right to teach, research, and speak about matters of public concern without being punished — even where their views, findings, or methods are controversial. Educators on college and university campuses must be free to speak their minds, ask tough questions, and facilitate learning without the threat of institutional censorship, coercion, or intimidation.
- Donald A. Downs: At its core, academic freedom is the freedom of scholars to pursue the truth in a manner consistent with professional standards of inquiry.
- Difficult Dialogues Initiative: Academic freedom protects college and university faculty members from unreasonable constraints on their professional activities. It is a broad doctrine giving faculty great leeway in addressing their academic subjects, allowing them even to challenge conventional wisdom. Under principles of academic freedom, a faculty member may research any topic. He or she may raise difficult subjects in a classroom discussion or may publish a controversial research paper. The excellence of America’s higher education system rests on academic freedom.
- PEN America: Academic freedom is paramount to the healthy functioning of a university. It refers to the rights of professors and students to exercise full freedom in their research, publications, and teaching, as well as the right to free expression of ideas in extramural contexts. It rests on the idea that knowledge is not stable and that questioning accepted wisdom is essential to the pursuit of truth. Professors do have pedagogical duties and an obligation to demonstrate requisite disciplinary knowledge, but the principle of academic freedom dictates that as long as they fulfill those responsibilities, they should have full latitude to speak, write, and publish free from censorship.