Academic Freedom with Nicholas Tampio

About

Nicholas Tampio is a professor of political science at Fordham University. He earned a BA from New College, an MA from Indiana University, and a PhD from Johns Hopkins University. Tampio researches the history of political thought, contemporary political theory, and education policy. Tampio is an associate editor of The Journal of Politics, and he often writes for public facing outlets such as the Boston Globe, USA Today, and the Washington Post. He lives with his family in Ridgefield, Connecticut. 

(Part 1) The Birth of Academic Freedom in Germany

The idea of academic freedom has a history. When Wilhelm von Humboldt founded the University of Berlin in 1810, he explained that professors would need the freedom to teach and research and students would have freedom to choose their courses. The twin ideals of Lehrfreiheit and Lehrnfreiheit still inform our thinking about the rights and responsibilities of academics. In this lecture, Professor Tampio explains how the founders of the modern research university—including Immanuel Kant, Friedrich Schleiermacher, Friedrich Schilling, and von Humboldt—justified academic freedom to a skeptical public and politicians. 

(Part 2) How Americans Adopted Academic Freedom

In the early 20th century, university trustees and presidents could and did fire professors at will. In 1915, the American Association of University Professors published a Declaration of Principles on Academic Freedom and Academic Tenure to protect academics who taught controversial topics. This document is cited often to protest violations of academic freedom, but the document is also important for what it demands that professors do inside and outside of the classroom. In this lecture, Professor Tampio discusses the twentieth century history of academic freedom in the United States.

(Part 3) Academic Freedom in the United States Today

Politicians and the public have often demanded that universities justify their expenses and support the values of the community. In this lecture, Professor Tampio thinks about how to defend academic freedom in our current moment. To ground his thinking, he will discuss debates about tenure in a public higher education system (Ohio) and a private university (Harvard). Tampio will present the strongest arguments he can find for restricting what professors may teach or say in public, and he will offer a full throated defense of the rights of academics to act like Socratic gadflies stinging the people who pay the university's bills.