Academic Free Speech

Are there limits to what people should and should not be able to say on university campuses? In McCarthyism and in The Crucible we see the dangers people can get into for speaking their minds. Do those cautionary tales still apply?

American Civil Liberties Union
Links to articles on freedom for student speech.
http://www.aclu.org/freespeech/youth/index.html

First Amendment Center
From the First Amendment Center, an overview of the concept of academic freedom and recent controversies including speech codes and objections to campus speakers.
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/speech/pubcollege/overview.aspx

The Case of Ward Churchill
One particularly interesting and incendiary example pertaining to the limits of free speech is the case of Ward Churchill. Churchill is a professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder, whose work has focused on the treatment of political dissidents and American Indians in the United States. He was also the center of great controversy after making some extreme statements about the World Trade Center attacks.

Primary Source Documents
These resources include Churchill’s original essay sparking the controversy, formal reactions from the university, etc.
http://www.politicalgateway.com/news/read.html?id=2739

Democracy Now
This article in Democracy Now takes a view in support of Churchill’s rights to free speech.
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/02/18/157211

Weekly Standard
This article in the The Weekly Standard argues that the university is right in acting to censor Churchill.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/005/496cjzrn.asp

Interview in Satya Magazine
Interview with Ward Churchill in Satya Magazine, “Dismantling the Politics of Comfort.”
http://www.satyamag.com/apr04/churchill.html