Tenure Is under Attack Once Again, Part 4: Responding to Internal Issues to Protect Academic Freedom

There are those within academe who feel that academic freedom is limited to professors’ scholarly expertise in research and teaching. It is when they step out of this protected space and enter the larger, political world that the trouble begins. There are also individuals within our institutions and organizations who feel that academic freedom includes the right to enter the discourse on subjects unrelated to their expertise while assuming a scholarly pose. Furthermore, they say faculty should be able to criticize anyone, including their own institution, using any tool available, including social media. There may be conversations between faculty and administration that need to take place to reduce this sort of thing, especially if the institution is a target of conservatives in a conservative environment.