Todd Geroux, age 15, of Santa Rosa, Calif., for his question:
WHAT IS ACADEMIC FREEDOM?
Academic freedom is a term that basically refers to certain rights claimed by college and university professors. It also refers to various rights claimed by students at those schools and by the institutions themselves.
During the 1960s the term was also used to describe rights claimed by elementary school and high school teachers as well.
For the teacher, academic freedom means the right to teach, to conduct research and write without fear of dismissal. For their students, it means the right to challenge the teachers views without being penalized. For the institutions, it means the right to determine what is taught and what research is conducted on the campus.
Academic freedom grew out of freedom of thought and expression, a fundamental civil right of any free society. Without such freedom, scholars cannot perform their vital role of seeking and spreading new knowledge.
The idea of academic freedom actually developed along with the universities in Europe during the 1100s and 1200s. The scholars at these institutions wanted freedom to pursue their studies.
Many universities became famous and powerful. But even the most powerful were subject to church control and the church persecuted many scholars whose ideas and teachings even slightly contradicted religious beliefs
One of the early scholars was the Italian astronomer and physicist Galileo. During the 1600s. the church persecuted Galileo for supporting various theories, including the one that the earth moves around the sun.
By the 1800s. the concept of academic freedom had been established in Germany, along with the idea of the university as a research institution. Professors could undertake any research.
In the United States, academic freedom has faced a variety of threats. During colonial times, religious intolerance presented the biggest danger to this freedom. Universities dismissed many teachers whose religious beliefs conflicted with the established views.
Also, during the 1800s, many private universities had wealthy benefactors as trustees and some of them felt that the teaching should agree with their own economic and political views. As a result, a number of professors lost their jobs for teaching certain economic or political concepts. Fortunately, however, most university trustees respected academic freedom.
After World War II ended in 1945, academic freedom in the United States came under brief attack by many persons who feared possible Communist infiltration of universities.
Student unrest of the 1960s brought different types of academic freedom into conflict with one another. Often the demands of students challenged the right of professors to teach and conduct research.