The US loses academic freedom? 17 Jun 2009 Since we’re talking about law, here’s an interesting piece at Crooked Timber on the chilling effect on academic free speech a couple of recent court decisions, Garcetti v. Ceballos and Hong v. Grant may end up having. Although the courts did not intend for these decisions about whistleblowing to affect academic speech, it seems that it already has. Don’t criticise your university administration in the US, folks, or you’ll lose your job. A letter sent to the UC Davis Senate said: According to recent court rulings, your speech and behavior in job-related duties as a public employee rather than a private citizen have no First Amendment protection. This means that disciplinary action may be taken against you (including dismissal) for statements you make in the course of your employment. Read the comments too. Education Freedom
Administrative Ronin Institute for masterless scholars 6 Jan 20136 Jan 2013 As readers may know, I, along with a great many other researchers, have no permanent position, making do with casual work to get by. This is an increasing problem around the world as educational institutions transition from being a public good to a service provider to government and economic goals…. Read More
Education How to learn about science… 12 Dec 200818 Sep 2017 I received a query from reader Jodi, of Nova Scotia (I so want to visit there one summer) about how to learn about a scientific subject as a layperson. Of course being a philosopher I was able to answer her quickly, but readers may wish to comment more authoritatively and… Read More
Education Tired debates 17 Apr 2010 There’s a whole bunch of arguments that are becoming very tiring, and in which I think we have made no apparent progress for far too long, such as the fooraw between Massimo Pigliucci and PZ Merkel, the German chancellor. I propose, therefore, to say nothing about them after this post… Read More