This was sent out to faculty by USC Arts and Sciences Dean Mary Anne Fitzpatrick this morning:
PLEASE DISTRIBUTE TO ALL YOUR FACULTY
TO: Faculty in the College of Arts and Sciences
Dear Colleagues:
In the past few months, academic freedom has become a hotly debated issue in our state. I need not rehearse all of the controversies that have erupted over certain reading assignments and performance events, as you are no doubt aware of them.
These controversies provide us with a valuable opportunity to affirm our most fundamental and profound principles. First, as university faculty, we can and we must be dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge and truth in our disciplines, and second, it is our right and our responsibility as faculty to determine the curriculum of our academic programs.
It is not often that academic freedom is the subject of numerous media reports and broad discussion among citizens. We should therefore welcome this chance to explain who we are as an intellectual community, our purpose and aspirations, and our vision “to transform the lives of our students and improve the world they will inhabit by creating and sharing knowledge at the frontiers of inquiry.”
I proudly invite you to read one such explanation written by Professor Ed Madden, a faculty member in the Department of English and the director of our Women’s and Gender Studies Program. Published in The State as a guest column on May 1, 2014, his explanation is both eloquent and moving.
http://www.thestate.com/2014/05/01/3419090/madden-is-this-a-pornographic.html
As your dean, I am deeply grateful for your commitment to our vision and for all that you do for our students.
Cordially,
Mary Anne
At first glance, I thought the memo was going to be about the national debate going on now about intellectual freedom on campus — the one sparked by all the student protests of invited graduation speakers. The WSJ had yet another op-ed piece about it this morning, this one headlined “Bonfire of the Humanities.”
And having made that mistake, now I have an appetite to read what academic leaders in this state might have to say about that national trend. Has anyone seen anything like that?
In the meantime, I suppose y’all could discuss this memo…
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“need to rehearse” I think he meant rehash.
Get me rewrite!!
No, she meant “rehearse.” One of the more esoteric senses of the word is “to say again.” The Oxford dictionary has one sense as “State (a list of points, especially those that have been made many times before); enumerate:”
She was being way academic…
Is there an “academic freedom” to get an honorary degree? Not that I’m aware of. There is an “academic freedom” for students and teachers to engage in intellectual inquiry and public debate without interference from outsiders–especially politicians. I confess that I’m not that happy with the trend of protesting commencement speakers whose views offend you (or, in the case of poor Christine Lagarde, apparently the sin of of being associated with an institution that good lefties are supposed to hate, regardless of the good work she’s actually done). But the whole tradition of outside, big-name commencement speakers has nothing to do with academic freedom, and a lot to do with the priorities of top administrators–raising money, and cozying up to the famous. My home institution gave up the practice years ago, with no discernable damage. Apart from J. K. Rowling’s fabulous address at Harvard, I can’t remember any of them that I’ve heard.
It seems like you’re making an argument against commencement speakers in general.
Reading the piece by Henninger, it’s crazy what things have come to. His reference of Mao’s “Red Guards” isn’t far off.
But hey, it’s the students’ loss. I’m sure that Ms. Lagarde isn’t crying her eyes out about not speaking at Smith. She’s the one who was doing THEM a favor by coming to speak.
Yeah, that’s one of the things about this trend. You have a highly accomplished woman willing to donate her time, and these privileged young snotpuppies lack the sophistication and knowledge of the world to appreciate it…
I heard that fabulous address. Harvard has great addresses. Conan nailed it, too.