Category: News
Solidarity with Kathleen Stock, Defend Academic Freedom
We are an ad hoc group of people involved in the University College Union (UCU) who, now or in the past, have served in elected national or local branch positions. […]
Should we cancel Cancel Culture?
This forthcoming debate is part of Buxton Battle of Ideas festival and is sponsored by AFAF. Find out more here. From China to UK universities, the Taliban to Trump, it seems […]
The UK’s Charlie Hebdo moment
The decision to lift the suspension of the Batley Grammar School teacher does not necessarily mean he can safely return to work. As the second half term begins, we do […]
The Shadow University
Richard Harris and Dennis Hayes discuss the threat to freedom of speech in what thay call the ‘shadow university’. In 1998, Alan Charles Kors and Harvey A. Silverglate wrote a […]
The Secretive University
Stephen Baskerville discusses how US universities create secretive devices to silence academic heretics The most effective method for protecting academic freedom is almost certainly publicity. (Tenure has not worked; neither […]
How to defend free speech in universities
Free speech is a hotly debated topic currently in the university sector. Dennis Hayes discusses why speech is censored and what can be done to tackle it.* A new report […]
Freedom of Speech and its Consequences
Philip Hammond As a journalism lecturer, I was struck by the comment made recently by Karl Turner MP, that: “Of course everyone has the right to freedom of expression. But that […]
Campus Free Speech: A Cultural Approach
Adam Kissel Key Points US colleges and universities have well-documented cultures of self-censorship of disfavored views. In contrast, free expression is consistent with campus values of toleration, diversity and inclusion. […]
Humza’s Hate Bill – will you be criminalized for someone else’s emotion?
Catherine McCall MUCH has been written by legal experts and others about the vagueness within the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill. Vagueness in law is certainly dangerous. If […]
The Anatomy of Hate: Submission in Opposition to the Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill
AFAF (Scotland) member, Dr Carlton Brick, made this submission to the Scottish parliamentary committee stage of the Scottish National Party’s Hate Crime and Public Order (Scotland) Bill. This is a […]