Politics in the Classroom? How Could It Be?

So, as some of you know, I dabble in academia when I'm not leading a fabulously feminist existence on the web. (I know, I know--a job? How utterly capitalistic of me...). Since many of you who follow this blog are also academics, I thought you might be interested in the following new report. The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) has just released a ground-breaking report on "Freedom in the Classroom." In response to many of the recent, high profile attacks on academia by the likes of David Horowitz, and several state legislatures' "Academic Bill of Rights," this report really engages critics of academia and answers the question: why academic freedom? It's well worth a careful read. And, if you are at a college or university, it's well worth passing around and engaging both your faculty and your administration in a conversation about the report. We can't presume the legacy of academic freedom--we have to fight to protect it and the exigencies of free speech. So, please do your homework! Click here. See also Michael Berube's 11 September 2007 "Freedom to Teach" column in Inside Higher Ed.