~~~~~~ ACADEMIC FREEDOM ~~~~~~
Albert Einstein: "By academic freedom I understand the right to search for truth and to publish and teach what one holds to be true. This right implies also a duty one must not conceal any part of what one has recognized to be true. It is evident that any restriction on academic freedom acts in such a way as to hamper the dissemination of knowledge among the people and thereby impedes rational judgment and action."
Academic Freedom at UBC
Academic freedom is under attack. UBC struggles with academic freedom. It seems there is a worrisome level of ambiguity about academic freedom at UBC. Efforts are underway at UBC to curb academic freedom. One current initiative is the "Freedom of Expression Statement" (Nov 8, 2017) which UBC has drafted and that it might implement. I think this development is important, and it deserves a comprehensive discussion and critical review.
UBC Freedom of Expression Statement Draft (Nov 8, 2017)
Martin's Comments on the UBC Freedom of Expression Statement Draft
Martin's Proposed ALTERNATIVE UBC Freedom of Expression Statement
Academic Freedom versus Freedom of Expression
Freedom of expression plays an essential role in public discourse -- it facilitates realism and helps to approximate truth. Academic freedom plays an essential role in academic knowledge production and dissemination. Both overlap in academic discourse where freedom of expression assures that all voices -- and in particular the dissenting voices -- are heard. It contributes to what we must do as academic scholars: Critical and rigorous testing and challenging of our beliefs, assumptions, theories, and models.
The UBC Town Hall Meeting on Freedom of Expression on Jan 29, 2018
The UBYSSEY (UBC’s student newspaper) reports on the town hall meeting "Guppy told The Ubyssey that the university currently has no policy to restrict speaking engagements, “no matter how abhorrent,” though they would consider backing out if the RCMP told them the speaker would present a security problem." So why does UBC want to change this situation? It has worked fine so far. Why this intense effort to constrain freedom of expression at UBC? Why is UBC so wildly intent on limiting freedom of expression? BTW, why is 'expression of abhorrent views' even a problem on campus? It rarely happens, and if it does, there are usually people around who say, "man that’s horrible", or something to that effect. There are also cases where it is not clear whether something is really 'abhorrent', and then an open academic discourse is one of the best remedies. In fact, it is our job to help people understand that some things are abhorrent; silencing people with abhorrent views will not help them to grow out of their abhorrent views. It seems these arguments about 'abhorrent views' and neo-Nazis that 'march on campus' (Dr. Moon at the meeting) are a bit sensationalist and I fear are used to justify imposition of arbitrary limitations on speech at UBC.
UBC, Jan 30, 2018: The UBYSSEY (UBC’s student newspaper) reports on the town hall meeting
Academic Freedom at the UBC Sauder School of Business
Academic freedom is under attack at Sauder. It appears that there is a systematic pattern of discrimination and abuse of researchers that do research which does not conform to the Dean's Workload policy (see the link below). I have requested an explanation from the Sauder Dean's office, but the Dean's office has not presented such an explanation. Efforts to measure academic performance have become popular in many places -- in part due to the increasing availability of performance metrics -- i.e., methods of counting publications in selected academic journals. At Sauder, this has been driven far out (much further than at many other places): Teaching loads of Sauder faculty are directly coupled to the performance metrics so that faculty with low publication counts on selected journals are punished with higher teaching loads.
Sauder's policy is pretty coercive. It essentially discriminates against research that is novel, original, unusual, unpopular, risky, and unconventional. One would expect that Sauder -- as an academic institution – is aware of the multifaceted nature of academic knowledge production and dissemination. One would expect that it takes a mindful approach to managing the knowledge production and dissemination of faculty. One would expect that Sauder has very good reasons to impose policies that have drastic impact on certain researchers and certain forms of research. It should allow critical discourse on such policies, and it should be able to answer critical questions about the impact on academic freedom of faculty. One would expect that the Sauder School has ample and strong evidence that shows how wonderful and effective the workload policy is, how unbiased its metrics are, and how it stimulates original, innovative research. Why should we accept that research is about maximizing academic performance metrics and not about understanding how the world works? One would expect that the Dean's office has valid reasons for using public resources (Sauder and UBC) to impose a system that discriminates against researchers that pursue atypical forms of knowledge production and dissemination.
Sauder School of Business Workload Policy
More to come: Martin's detailed comments on the Sauder Workload Policy Not done yet. Stay tuned.
Current Developments
>>>>> March 2, 2018:
It appears that UBC has rules and procedures that can be used to silence faculty.
>>>>> March 18, 2018:
It appears UBC is behaving in strange ways. I hope UBC comes back to its senses soon.
>>>>> November 9, 2018:
UBC is still behaving in strange ways. It has not come back to its senses. NOTE: I offer $500 Reward for anyone who can really explain to me what UBC is doing! Let me repeat that loud:
I offer $500 Reward for anyone who can really explain to me what UBC is doing!
Please share with everyone! Thank you!
>>>>> December 1, 2018:
I took a closer look at the website of UBC's Office of Equity and Inclusion. Guess what I found: UBC has essentially eliminated humor and Halloween too.
No more joking at UBC!
You have been WARNED about what to wear!
Academic Freedom and Publication Counts
It will take more than 8 years and £720m to revamp a Hadron Collider. And in other fields, many university administrators really believe (actually expect) that innovative research produces results in one year or less. Hmm. How did Physics pull that off?
Hadron Collider upgrade
Academic Freedom Around the World
The University of Chicago Statement of Freedom of Expression
The Heterodox Academy
Jordan Peterson presents a very powerful defense of freedom of expression (at 14:11). Note that I am a huge supporter of LGBTQ+. Note also that I am very skeptical about Evolutionary Psychology.
Orwellian Nightmare -- How is Wilfrid Laurier University going to recover from this?
Lindsay Shepherd at Wilfrid Laurier University speaks out
Wilfrid Laurier University reprimands teaching assistant Lindsay Shepherd in a closed-door meeting. This is the recording of the meeting. The voices are of Shepherd, her supervising professor Nathan Rambukkana, another professor, Herbert Pimlott, as well as Adria Joel, manager of Gendered Violence Prevention and Support at the school.
Interview with Lindsay Shepherd
Further Links
Postmodernism is not a viable position. It is totally obsolete. Why does it take so long for everyone to understand?
Steven Hicks deconstructs Postmodernism Part 1
Part 2 It is just the audio, but he does a great job speaking.
Click here if the death of Postmodernism makes you depressed.
The story of a Born-Again Postmodernist. Totally real! :-)
A Few Background Papers and Books on Academic Rankings, Journal Impact Factors, and Faculty Performance Metrics (more to come)
Williams, Joanna. Academic freedom in an age of conformity: Confronting the fear of knowledge. Springer, 2016.
Michael Lynk: What does Academic Freedom Protect in Canada?
“Impact Factor Distortions” by Bruce Alberts Science 17 May 2013, Vol. 340, Issue 6134, pp. 787
“On Academic Rankings, Unacceptable Methods, and the Social Obligations of Business Schools” by Daniel G Bachrach et al. Decision Sciences, Volume 48, Issue 3, June 2017, Pages 561–585
Glick, William H. "Rain man or pied piper? Moving business schools beyond media rankings with mass customization and stakeholder education." The Academy of Management Perspectives 22.1 (2008): 18-23.
Espeland, Wendy Nelson, and Michael Sauder. "Rankings and reactivity: How public measures recreate social worlds." American journal of sociology 113.1 (2007): 1-4
NYT: Retractions are on the rise!
Campbell’s Law In 1979, sociologist Donald Campbell made a seemingly obvious observation that became known as Campbell’s Law. As Campbell phrased it, “The more any quantitative social indicator is used for social decision-making, the more subject it will be to corruption pressures and the more apt it will be to distort and corrupt the social processes it is intended to monitor.” To put it more simply, the more you base decisions like promotions, firings, or bonuses on a particular number or set of numbers, the more likely it is people will either cheat or otherwise try to game the system.
CAUT's Statement on Academic Freedom
Check out me website on current developments regarding the UBC Faculty Assocation. The link is here.
I am the runner-up of the last election of the President of the Faculty Association. More info on my campaign is here.
Martins Campaign website
Academic Freedom and Education
Why standardized testing is nonsense
Contact Martin via
