An issue I've often pondered is how the western higher education idea of academic freedom might need to be altered in the context of diverse political, economic, and social environments around the world. The University College of Dublin academic council is exploring what modifications may be necessary but the effort met with the predictable resistance. One of UCD's professors, Patrick Paul Walsh asserted that it was "'quite concerning' that the university 'would even consider trading off' academic freedom 'to profit from internationalization of education.'"
The academic council statement proposed that it was imperative for "a university with a large international footprint, to consider and appraise the risk of tension arising between the obligations regarding academic freedom and the strategic imperative to internationalize higher education." Continuing in the draft, "there is little firm ground (including case law) on which to rest an agreed definition of what academic freedom means" and "learning about and engaging with other traditions of academic freedom is a valuable component of such international partnerships."
In a review of MBS, Saudi Arabia, and Academic Freedom by Ben Hubbard, Joshua Kim reflects that there is a difference between freedom of the press, as protected by the First Amendment of the U.S.A. Constitution, and academic freedom. Freedom of the press allows for books such as Hubbard's to be published while academic freedom's intent is to "protect the ability of some academics... to pursue their scholarship" without fear of retribution or dismissal. Kim recognized that academic freedom is primarily available to senior and tenured faculty with adjuncts and staff not enjoying this privilege.
Kudos to University College of Dublin for taking on the question of how academic freedom may look in different political/cultural contexts. Other institutions are sure to follow, or should follow. Self-examination of those who have worked in a different culture or country will reveal that reconsideration of basic assumptions of inquiry and expression of dissenting ideas is a daily, if not minute by minute, consideration. The unexamined privilege of certain academics (e.g. senior faculty) versus others who serve higher education should also be considered.
The academic council statement proposed that it was imperative for "a university with a large international footprint, to consider and appraise the risk of tension arising between the obligations regarding academic freedom and the strategic imperative to internationalize higher education." Continuing in the draft, "there is little firm ground (including case law) on which to rest an agreed definition of what academic freedom means" and "learning about and engaging with other traditions of academic freedom is a valuable component of such international partnerships."
In a review of MBS, Saudi Arabia, and Academic Freedom by Ben Hubbard, Joshua Kim reflects that there is a difference between freedom of the press, as protected by the First Amendment of the U.S.A. Constitution, and academic freedom. Freedom of the press allows for books such as Hubbard's to be published while academic freedom's intent is to "protect the ability of some academics... to pursue their scholarship" without fear of retribution or dismissal. Kim recognized that academic freedom is primarily available to senior and tenured faculty with adjuncts and staff not enjoying this privilege.
Kudos to University College of Dublin for taking on the question of how academic freedom may look in different political/cultural contexts. Other institutions are sure to follow, or should follow. Self-examination of those who have worked in a different culture or country will reveal that reconsideration of basic assumptions of inquiry and expression of dissenting ideas is a daily, if not minute by minute, consideration. The unexamined privilege of certain academics (e.g. senior faculty) versus others who serve higher education should also be considered.
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