The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, resulted in substantial political, economic, and social changes in the nation. Higher education was not immune from this upheaval, and one significant way that 9/11 impacted colleges and universities was through federal legislation on international student enrollment. To date there have been few…

Ellen Schrecker is professor of history at Yeshiva University. Recognized as one of the nation's leading experts on McCarthyism, she has published many books and articles on the subject. Here she writes that while it would be difficult to deny that America's colleges and universities are under siege at the moment, it is hard to tell whether they…

It was Friday, right before Memorial Day weekend. The Social Science Division was quiet. The author was standing in his office when he realized he had finished his 10th year of teaching a week before. He pondered the milestone for a minute. Like most faculty, he has floor-to-ceiling bookshelves in his office. His favorite shelf sits at the top of…

College campuses around the country reacted to the September 11, 2001, terrorist acts with rallies, vigils, discussions, and a wide range of debates about the causes and cures for terrorism. Yet the story told about academia in the media was often quite different. Conservatives claimed that the reaction to 9/11 in academia was another example of…

Alexis Pogorelskin, an associate professor at the University of Minnesota Duluth and chair of the History Department, recounts her experience in 2004 after making a controversial comment in her History of the Holocaust and 20th Century Russia class. Her comment was in reference to President Bush making no mention in the 2000 campaign about the…

Throughout the 20th century, academic freedom was a foundational value for the academy in the United States. The concept of academic freedom pertains to the right of faculty to enjoy considerable autonomy in their research and teaching. The assumption that drives academic freedom is that the country benefits when faculty are able to search for…

This article describes the events surrounding the University of South Florida's (USF) involvement with Sami Al-Arian, who was a professor at USF prior to accusations of involvement in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). The seeds of the Al-Arian controversy were planted in the early 1990s when USF--an ambitious but underfunded…

A dean resigns and a search committee for his replacement is selected and begins its job. This simple act occurs regularly on campuses throughout the nation. Periodically, though, things happen that disturb the business-as-usual cycle of such searches and provide a glimpse into problems that fester below the surface. In this article, Terry Jones…

Attacks on academic freedom are very prevelant on college campuses nationwide. Attacks are directed at academic freedom generally but the most specific and virulent is reserved for those educators--both Jewish and non-Jewish--in area studies, and notably, Middle Eastern studies whose ideas are considered anti-Israel, anti-Semitic or anti-American.…

Discusses why science needs science fiction, commenting on the author's book about science that draws heavily on the "Star Trek" series. The best science, in spite of popular thinking, comes from leaps of intuition, and science fiction provides a creative spark that encourages participation in science. (SLD)

Describes a philosophy of teaching inspired by a love of the discipline being taught and the desire of the professor to give students something of substance and be fulfilled by their responses. (SLD)

Considers how what one is shapes what one knows about the world, and how one can become aware of the conceptual shackles imposed by one's own identity and experiences. Discusses the construction of knowledge by the interaction between the questioner and the world. (SLD)

Recounts the process by which a college teacher became a teacher, specifically a teacher of writing. The experience of being taught by exceptional teachers created the desire to be such a teacher himself. (SLD)

Reflects on the relationships among higher education, democracy, and the public sphere in a time of economic constraints and a decline of state support for public education that transcends the merely economic. The decline in the competence of those who participate in the public "conversation" is something higher education must address. (SLD)

Explores the challenges and criticism that some faculty members and the academy encountered following September 11, 2001, and highlights the notable efforts college faculty have made to engage their students, transform the classroom, and invigorate the academy while preserving academic freedom. (SLD)