Aimee Turner
Academic freedom is the right of the teacher and student to be free from external or institutional censorship or other forms of restriction in terms of the teaching, research and critique of the University's governance. This is assumed to be an essential characteristic of an institution of higher education. Academic freedom includes, for faculty and students, the right of faculty to full freedom in research and in the publication of results, freedom in the classroom in discussing their subjects, and the right of faculty to be free from institutional censorship or discipline when they speak or write as citizens.
Although higher education institutions are thought of as places that exude academic freedom, the protection of academic freedom has been a key issue in higher education for centuries. There are many recent cases of the violation of academic freedom. A respected Egyptian sociologist was arrested for “defaming” Egypt and a prominent Iranian social scientist was sentenced to death for calling for democracy. International protests led to the Egyptian’s release and the lifting of the Iranian’s sentence in 2004; however, the immediate consequences of these professor’s actions did not honor the principle of academic freedom.
Universities cannot achieve their potential nor fully contribute to the emerging knowledge-based society without academic freedom. Even colleges and universities in western democracies face subtle but significant challenges from the privatization and commercialization of research and from the complexities of the information society. The goal of all higher education institutions is to research and discuss a wide spectrum issues that affect the human, world, and universal condition. From discussion of the beginning of life, war and peace, and the atomic structure of the atom, all of these subjects should be open to free discussion and research in order to better enlighten mankind.
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