May 28, 2007
On March 27th, 2007, the Israel on Campus Coalition (ICC) marked the launch of a new publication, Academic Rights, Academic Responsibilities: A New Approach. This monograph is intended to spur a renewed national discussion surrounding academic freedom and the responsibilities required of all university stakeholders – students, faculty members and administrators – to uphold those freedoms.
The publication appeals to departments and administrations to stop the infusion of political and anti-Israel bias into curricular materials, with the goal of encouraging serious dialogue about how best to create a campus climate that enables open, civil and objective study of complex and charged topics.
The monograph was released at a luncheon symposium analyzing academic rights and responsibilities, featuring a keynote address by David M. Schizer, the Dean and Lucy G. Moses Professor of Law at Columbia Law School. The keynote address was followed by a panel discussion including legal expert and New York Times columnist Dr. Stanley Fish, of Florida International University College of Law; Dr. Haig Mardirosian, Dean of Academic Affairs at American University; and Dr. Leonard Saxe, Professor of Jewish Community Research and Social Policy at Brandeis University, where he directs the Steinhardt Institute for Social Research and the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies.
“Those who care about the future of Israel need to care about the conversation taking place on college campuses,” Dean Schizer noted during his remarks. “The future of the US-Israel relationship depends on future US leaders, and those future leaders are on college campuses today,” Schizer added.
“I am surprised it took so long for these questions to be raised in one succinct document,” Dean Mardirosian said of the publication. “If we have academic communities that are willing to engage in challenging questions, the best thing we can contribute to these communities is dialogue about academic rights and responsibilities.”
“I applaud the ICC for starting an important debate and discussion about the balance between academic rights and academic responsibilities,” Dr. Saxe added.
This publication was made possible through the generous support of the Polinger Family Foundation.
Academic Rights, Academic Responsibilities: A New Approach (616 KB)
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