Intellectual freedom for intellectual development - Featured Topic

Liberal Education, Summer, 2003 by David Moshman

2. Freedom of Expression and Discussion. All persons have a right to express their views and to discuss them with others. In academic contexts, students and teachers have a right to express their views on any matter relevant to the curriculum even if those views are deemed to be false, absurd, offensive, dangerous, or otherwise objectionable. Evaluations of student and faculty work, and restrictions on the time, place, or manner of expression, must be neutral with respect to viewpoint. Special steps to avoid misunderstandings may be necessary when an individual is speaking in an official capacity on behalf of an educational institution or professional organization or is addressing an audience that may fail to distinguish the individual from the institution, organization, or discipline that she or he appears to represent.

3. Freedom of Inquiry. Educational institutions should encourage students and faculty to pursue their own interests and ideas and should promote access to relevant sources of information. Inquiry must not be suppressed by restricting access to particular authors, topics, viewpoints, or sources of information, or by hindering the formulation of objectionable conclusions.

4. Freedom from Indoctrination. Educators and educational institutions must not require or coerce students to modify their beliefs or values. Efforts to convince students to modify their beliefs or values must be academically justifiable.

4A. Formulation of Curriculum. Curriculum must be determined by teachers and other professionals on the basis of academic considerations. It is a responsibility of administrators and governing boards to explain and support justifiable curricular decisions and to educate their constituencies about the educational importance of an inclusive curriculum and the critical role of respect for academic freedom.

4B. Challenges to the Curriculum. Suggested modifications of the curriculum should not be accepted merely to resolve a complaint, but neither should such suggestions automatically be rejected as illegitimate. In general, changes that expand the curriculum are more likely to be defensible than changes that contract or restrict it. On the other hand, additions may be illegitimate if what is added cannot be justified academically, and deletions may be appropriate if what is deleted was not academically justifiable.

5. Equality, Privacy, and Due Process. To the extent that violations of equal opportunity, privacy, and due process infringe on intellectual freedom in academic contexts, they are inconsistent with academic freedom.

5A. Equality. All students and faculty have an equal right to academic freedom.

5B. Privacy. Educators and educational institutions must refrain from academically unjustified inquiries into the beliefs, values, interests, affiliations, and expressive activities of current and potential students and faculty and from academically unjustified uses of information about individuals' beliefs, values, interests, affiliations, and expressive activities.