Academic freedom

Students and faculty to be asked annually about their personal opinions, with public funding tied to answers

Fields essential to country’s development could become ‘unviable’ as faculty are forced out, observers say

Covid redundancy terms include non-disclosure and non-disparagement obligations, as corporate HR culture captures universities

Action against Bard College threatens novel liberal arts degree and widens Putin crackdown on higher education

Koç University dismissed media scholar Amir Hetsroni for ‘inappropriate behaviour’, but he suspects a link to his private criticism of Turkey’s government

Critics allege that political interference has caused delays to appointments  

Professors and institutions admit worry as at least 20 US states move to block curricula exploring systemic biases

Chinese students bring benefits but universities are too reliant on them and Canberra should ‘take a harder line’, respondents say

Parliamentary resolution seen as culmination of a campaign against gender, race and migration scholarship

Union says education’s secretary’s criticism of students is ‘dangerous’, as Magdalen president defends ‘democratic decision-making’ that led to removal

Michael Higgins warns campuses ‘have suffered attrition of range and depth, loss of interdisciplinary exchange, leading in too many cases to a degradation of the very scholarship and teaching for which they were established’

Ideal of shared governance suffers, though AAUP heartened by some revivals, especially at large public universities

Non-disclosure agreements that silence staff or students should be banned, says Mark Geoghegan

As Isaiah Berlin showed, academics need to reflect on who is sidelined by commitments to ‘positive’ freedom, says Joseph Mintz

Embattled university president in staunchly conservative state sees business-world allies valuing benefits of under-fire course

University retreats under pressure by pausing graduation plans for critic of pro-Trump insurrectionists

As feared, the country’s universities are being used as a weapon to crush dissent against the regime, several academic organisations say

But academics need to navigate political tensions, even in their classrooms

Neither the Equality Act nor campus groups’ good sense will circumvent the duty to give a platform to anyone who wants one, says David Renton

THE event hears that ‘policing’ of social media posts from students studying abroad is stifling classroom debate

Tory peer hopes for role in selecting ‘thoughtful’ appointee to free speech champion role

Investigation, despite little evidence, seen as reflecting growing power of conservative critics of academia

University broadens free speech exclusions on request of gender-diverse community

Intervention by Chapel Hill trustees hits higher education as dangerous new threat of political interference

‘Devastation and horror’ compound years of isolation and neglect, professor says

Suggested new avenue for conservative donor influence opposed by students

Waleed Salem has been unable to leave home country after being jailed during research

V-c admits university made ‘serious mistakes’ after external review finds it breached its free speech duties

Military takes action after plan to reopen campuses is thwarted

Scholars say criticism of fields such as gender studies and race theory is leading to self-censorship

In wake of campus free speech bill plan, Tory ex-minister says UK-China links must be regulated to avert ‘genuine threat to free speech’

New statutory tort would aim to protect ‘political minorities’, but critics fear it will mean ‘risk-assessing the life out of campus’

Government’s legislative agenda includes extra powers for OfS on HE quality and enabling individuals to sue universities on free speech

Professor accuses university of ‘aligning itself with a propaganda narrative that is not intellectually defensible’

Eleven universities, their real estate and shares have been given over to foundations that observers say will be dominated by ruling party loyalists

With some academics being willing to oust those they disagree with, self-censorship is a huge, unacknowledged problem, says James Tooley

Eric Chabriere’s attacks against critics of hydroxychloroquine are seen as a sign of the social-media-induced radicalisation that has occurred during the pandemic

Faculty group’s first boycott order in decade affirms pro-Israel interference, but president Meric Gertler pushes back

Conference hears argument that freedoms are ‘better achieved’ by maintaining public support for universities

Restrictions are rare, but the Russell Group is putting its commitment to the open and rigorous contestation of ideas beyond doubt, says Tim Bradshaw

Academics question whether autonomy will be protected as an ambitious national policy is implemented

Making historic ‘misrepresentations’ a reportable offence could affect even overseas study   

Video platform made powerful by pandemic agrees to largely let universities police content

Scholars fear threat of lawsuits is deterring academics from exploring Polish complicity in genocide

Leading scholar says region must place more importance on liberal arts, not just science and engineering, to build better societies

Online harassment is now spilling into the real world, with politically outspoken historians doxed and subject to posters warning: ‘You are being watched’

Academics emphasise role of critical thinking in societal development at THE summit

Attempts to impose the IHRA definition have prompted the formulation of an alternative that respects academic freedom, says Bahram Bekhradnia

Education institutions are being undermined from within, everywhere from Turkey to Brazil, online conference hears

Universities have decried the GCRF cuts, but being corralled into promoting justice globalism is not academic freedom, says Bruce Macfarlane

Pratap Bhanu Mehta’s resignation from Ashoka underlines that financial autonomy doesn’t remove fear of government anger, says Saikat Majumdar

Universities face ban on deals with foreign partners that lack ‘institutional autonomy’, as they wrestle with similar demons

University employees are ‘in the firing line’ and some have gone into hiding

Newcastle University scholar says she ‘will not be silenced’

Rising public support for barring discrimination against LGBTQ people

Beijing has banned dozens of China researchers and their families, while the country’s embassy to France called an expert a “petty thug” on Twitter

Policy expert suggests institutions could back Brexit, a republic or rebrand themselves as a ‘Black Lives Matter university’

Events at the University of Leicester suggest an always tense relationship may be turning toxic, says Ursula Huws

Global index finds freedom of academic expression is declining, while experts warn overall autonomy may worsen post-pandemic

SOAS scholar says free speech is not an on/off switch and speakers could be invited on certain terms