History 4321/CS 401

Changing Conception of Academic Freedom

November 28, 2005

I. Same-Sex Issues and Family Law

1. Gay Rights as Issue (anti-discrimination; AIDS; Clinton; legal challenges: Bowers, gay marriage, DOMA)

2. The Jurisprudence of Anthony Kennedy (Romer: Kennedy vs. Scalia; 1^st amendment and right to discriminate; breadth of Texas v. Lawrence)

3. Marriage (role of state constitutions; Vermont and civil unions; path to Goodridge; national reaction and backlash)

4. [con’t. from last time] Redefining Family Law (Anita Bryant and gay adoption issue—Florida law; adoption issue and debates over psychological studies; changing national attitudes; generational gap?; legal and political strategies; federalism)

II. Background to Columbia

            1. Beyond Cornell (ideological transformation of academy: difference from 1980s to contemporary era, Wesleyan case study, recent polls, reaction; pedagogical transformation of academy: triumph of Cornell vision; role of diversity and framing academics as moral issue)

            2. MESA (Title VI and area studies legacy; Asian Studies and Vietnam, LASA and Central America; role of Said and Orientalism; Said as political activist; development of Middle East Studies as field; Columbia conditions)

            3. Students and Academic Freedom (the rise and fall of speech codes—Penn and water buffalo case, Wisconsin speech code, creation of FIRE; transformation—“learning communities,” co-curricular activities; YAF, Buckley, and God and Man at Yale; Horowitz and conservative critique of academy; ABOR and AAUP principles; academic and legislative battles; academy’s reactions)

III. The Columbia Controversy

            1. Issues (legacy of student complaints and administration reaction; what is a professor’s role?; creation of CAF and David Project; film and public opinion; public defenses by MEALAC faculty)

            2. Outcome (Bollinger and intellectual diversity; backdown with investigatory committee; limited report; Israel Studies chair and Khalidi)

            3. Significance (aberration or harbinger for future?; market forces and intellectual diversity question; future ABOR?; faculty fighting back—AAUP elections; question of outside scrutiny)