Category: University
In defence of debate – oppose all mandatory training on controversial topics
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), a group campaigning for free speech in the US, opposes all forms of mandatory training for academics or students: Liberty cannot exist […]
Killing Controversy: the silencing of speech
One of the dominant ideas of our times is the belief that certain words and thoughts are unacceptable. From European hate-speech laws to online censorship and no-platforming at universities, free […]
Louise Richardson: free-speech hero
Over 2,640 students’ union officers, LGBTQ+ activists, academics and students have signed a letter demanding an apology from Professor Louise Richardson, vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford. What did Richardson do to […]
What is the point of a university?
Should a university privilege knowledge or skills? Are ideas central to its mission or should university education focus on employability? Should universities be free and open to discuss everything or […]
Free Speech University Rankings 2017
The 2017 Free Speech University Rankings (FSUR) – sponsored by AFAF – is out. spiked’s groundbreaking analysis of campus censorship in the UK has published its third annual report, and […]
Academic Freedom Motion for UCU Congress 2017
Academic Freedom Congress instructs the NEC to bring to Congress in 2018 a statement in defence of Academic Freedom as an addition to UCU Rules Section 2 ‘Aims and Objects’.
Will preventing ‘radicalisation’ mean the death of debate?
The government’s ‘Prevent’ strategy sees the sudden psychological ‘radicalisation’ of vulnerable children and young people as the cause of today’s apparently meaningless acts of terrorism.
‘This house would never limit free speech on student campuses’
Tom Slater, deputy editor of the online current affairs magazine spiked! and co-ordinator of the Free Speech University Rankings (FSUR) and Dennis Hayes, professor of education at the University of Derby […]
Vote Elrica for Freedom of Speech
Elrica Degirmen is standing for the position of Education Officer in the University of Manchester NUS Elections on a free speech platform…if you can, vote for her, if not publicise […]
