Academic Freedom at the Dawn of a New Century ― How Terrorism, Governments, And Culture Wars Impact Free Speech

This collection of ten essays examines such issues as free speech in and out of the classroom, access to information and government funding of the sciences, focusing on the new patriotism and its relation to "culture wars" so often debated on college campuses. Introductory articles describe the reemergence of the academic freedom debate and the three prevailing conceptions of it. Those on academic freedom within American universities analyze the new rules post 9/11, political mobilization and resistance to censorship, and lessons from the past on censoring science, while the global perspective includes a survey of conditions in the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Western Europe and Latin America. Concluding articles comment on self-censorship and survey the potential threats to freedom of speech, thought and inquiry at American universities. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Evan Gerstmann is Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Political Science at Loyola Marymount University. Matthew J. Streb is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Northern Illinois University.