Academic freedom is increasingly being threatened by a stifling culture of conformity in higher education that is restricting individual academics, the freedom of academic thought and the progress of knowledge – the very foundations upon which academia and universities are built. Once, scholars demanded academic freedom to critique existing knowledge and to pursue new truths. Today, while fondness for the rhetoric of academic freedom remains, it is increasingly criticised as an outdated and elitist concept by students and lecturers alike and called into question by a number of political and intellectual trends such as feminism, critical theory and identity politics. This provocative and compelling book traces the demise of academic freedom within the context of changing ideas about the purpose of the university and the nature of knowledge. The book argues that a challenge to this culture of conformity and censorship and a defence of academic free speech are needed for critique to be possible and for the intellectual project of evaluating existing knowledge and proposing new knowledge to be meaningful. This book is that challenge and a passionate call to arms for the power of academic thought today.
Author
Dr Joanna Williams is Head of Education and Culture at Policy Exchange. She is an author, commentator and the associate editor of Spiked. Joanna began her career teaching English in secondary schools and Further Education. She started working as a lecturer in Higher Education and Academic Practice at the University of Kent in 2007. She was Director of Kent’s Centre for the Study of Higher Education until 2016. Joanna is the author of Consuming Higher Education Why Learning Can’t Be Bought (Bloomsbury, 2012) and Academic Freedom in an Age of Conformity (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016). Her most recent book is Women vs Feminism (Emerald, 2017). Joanna has written numerous academic journal articles and book chapters as well as being a frequent contributor to national and international debates on education, feminism and gender politics. She has given many guest lectures, most recently speaking at the Universities of Bonn, Cologne, Leiden and the Freie University in Berline. In America she has lectured at St Olaf College, North Dakota State University, the University of San Diego and California State University, Fullerton. She has addressed the Institute for Humane Studies and the National Association of Scholars. Many ideas from Joanna Williams' articles and publications have inspired young people to do their research. College students can quickly achieve academic freedom with an essay writing service. The concept of freedom of education and expression remains a topical issue in 2020, and Joanna has made a significant impact on the development of higher education in the United States. Joanna’s writing has been published widely in the UK and the US including The Sun, The Daily Mail, The Telegraph, The Spectator, The Guardian, The New York Post and American Conservative. Joanna writes and speaks about a range of issues including schools, gender, feminism, children and families. She has appeared on BBC 1’s Sunday Morning Live and Daily Politics and has reviewed the newspapers for Sky News. Joanna has been a guest on Radio 4’s Moral Maze and Broadcasting House as well as Radio 3’s Night Waves.
