Academic freedom

With its Trump-style promise to smash woke ideology on campus, Germany’s far-right populist party is widely seen as a threat by academics. And with even the country’s mainstream parties promising little for higher education or research, few are relishing Sunday’s election. Emily Dixon reports

Delayed introduction of England’s campus free speech act will help scholars confront bias confirmation propagated by social media bubbles, argue Carla Ferstman and Faten Ghosn

Former Warwick v-c warns ‘industrialisation’ of universities risks turning academics into ‘drones’, and says fellow leaders have done little to help

Two dozen academics join ‘mainstream’ call for a health check on youth gender treatment

Long caught up in debates about academic freedom and internationalisation, liberal arts may not survive in city state beyond closure of pioneering partnership

Political pressures and legislative haziness leave institutions ‘on a hiding to nothing’

Scouring funded grant applications for ‘woke’ terminology is ‘chilling’, say top US researchers alarmed by defunding threats

In-depth Hepi report promises inside story of last summer’s UK campus protests 

University reform commission announced by Georgian prime minister likely means of tightening political control, scholars warn

Regulator yet to conclude investigation into philosopher’s departure from Sussex despite renewed focus on free speech issues

Cambridge philosopher appointed to oversee free speech in English universities has been unusually quiet since starting the role. Might changes seen as ‘clipping his wings’ force him to be more vocal?

Bid to hand funding council ability to intervene amid worsening institutional finances could be open for abuse, critics fear

Right to sue universities over free speech complaints among the elements of act to be removed by education secretary

‘Statutory tort’ allowing for universities to be sued over alleged free speech breaches likely to be removed when legislation is reintroduced later this month, according to reports

‘People lose a lot of their energy and resources to fear and speculation versus focusing on what’s actually happening,’ says newly inaugurated Boston University leader

Campaigners claim work institutions had begun in anticipation of law change now all but abandoned

Oxford student union president Addi Haran Diman is highlighting the difficulties faced by postgraduate researchers after completing a DPhil at 22

Social science faculty at National University of Singapore told ‘higher risk’ campus speakers face additional ‘administrative formalities’

Comments from the country’s new ministers have raised concerns about the future of women’s role in education and public positions 

Proposed legislative changes will require institutions to obtain approval of ‘free speech statements’, and live up to them

Hungary ‘has not sufficiently addressed’ conflict of interest concerns, EU body rules

Academics sign open letter to education minister amid reports she is set to ‘water down’ campus free speech legislation

As newly formed institution adopts non-attribution principle, Harvard is among those considering whether it should be applied more widely

FIRE Faculty Survey Report finds Israel-Hamas conflict is the most difficult subject to have honest conversations about

Outgoing president says that city’s universities still have ‘tremendous potential’, but that their autonomy should be protected

University accuses protesters of creating hostile environment on campus

Vast majority of scholars admit self-censoring over fears they will be targeted by students or academics, suggests Times Higher Education’s free speech survey

As wars, both real and cultural, rage around the world, disputes about academic freedom are becoming ever more fraught. Is freedom of speech under threat on campus? And are some restrictions a reasonable price to pay to avoid offence or harm? We present the views of more than 450 academics

Stella Maris launches judicial review against removal from governing body over Israel ‘genocide’ claim

The chancellor of Abu Dhabi University on different types of intelligence, freedom of speech and universities in the East versus West 

Balázs Hankó defends university governance reforms in THE interview

Republican claims calling out lecturer over what he said about students who voted for president-elect was ‘defending free speech’

Two vice-chancellors discuss challenges they face dealing with conflict on campus

Ex-HKU law professor receives longest sentence to date under controversial national security law

Ministers may have ‘little appetite’ to revisit contentious legislation, but is just letting it lie a viable option?

Minor branded ‘liberal indoctrination’ by Republican representative among 52 programmes being cut, with low enrolment blamed

Fossil fuel producer cracks down on dissenters as it hosts gathering of world leaders

New LSE vice-chancellor discusses ‘Wild West’ US, dealing with campus protests and the personal turmoil that led him to make the switch to London

Francesca Albanese, UN special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, has been giving a series of London lectures on ‘genocide in Gaza’ and international law

Universities’ instinct to ‘de-risk everything’ makes things worse for everybody, says academic émigré

‘Conflating knowledge systems with underlying disciplinary teaching’ is part of a ‘slippery slope’ for the academy

Academic freedom statute ‘widely misunderstood’, says New Zealand barrister

Attacks on academics and suppression of student protests may intensify under leader linked to human rights abuses

Laurent Vinatier, an adviser at the non-profit Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, sentenced to three years in prison

New partnership with armed forces could lead to further harassment of students and staff, activists claim

Increasing trend for policies that attempt to undermine or overhaul higher education in US and Europe being exported worldwide, Scholars at Risk warns

Gender-critical professor says Dandridge report is another sign that campus free speech legislation is needed

New institution with power to appoint its own vice-chancellor seen as a possible model for improving struggling sector

Leadership hopeful takes aim at universities in latest of series of controversial remarks at party’s conference

Policies must protect gender-critical beliefs as well as trans and non-binary staff, former OfS head says in wake of tribunal judgment

A wave of US institutions say they will no longer take stances on political or societal issues, but some are critical that keeping quiet is ‘tantamount to implicit support’

Report finds senior faculty who disagree with Beijing lose positions of authority while those who fall in line are rewarded

Geneticist Dennis Lo Yuk-ming confirmed as Rocky Tuan’s successor at Chinese University of Hong Kong

Survey by Norwegian Association of Researchers finds many believe their institution does too little to safeguard them from harassment

Outgoing Erasmus University Rotterdam president discusses the underappreciated value of the social sciences, managing student protests and the differences between Dutch and German higher education

Administrators’ tolerance for ‘unacceptable’ behaviour tempered by ‘politicised’ winds, witnesses suggest

Chinese embassy officials held a meeting with a leading Canadian university after two of its academics spoke at a Taiwanese-government sponsored event

Author says country should acknowledge forces to suppress academic expression, irrespective of their ideological roots 

New institution founded by conservative figures as an alternative to ‘censoriousness’ of established universities

Call for an ‘immediate ceasefire’ is scarcely better than the ‘stop arming Ukraine’ motion that led to resignations a year ago, says Christopher Phelps