This book explores the history of the debate about academic freedom, particularly in the classroom. Introducing the origins of the modern research university and the professionalization of the role of the university teacher, it portrays the controversies that arise from the tension between academic freedom and academic professionalism.

Daniel Gordon is a Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA and Co-Editor in Chief of the journal Society. He received a Ph.D. in history from the University of Chicago and a Master of the Study of Law degree from the Yale Law School. He is the author of Citizens Without Sovereignty: Equality and Sociability in French Thought, 1670-1789 (Princeton University Press, 1994), the editor of The Anthem Companion to Alexis de Tocqueville (Anthem Press, 2019), and the author of many articles on free speech and religious freedom in France and the United States.

Introduction

Chapter 1. The Firing of Angela Davis

Chapter 2. Absolute Meiklejohn

Chapter 3. Indoctrination: From Lovejoy to Foucault by Way of Black Studies

Chapter 4. Eminent Conversions: 1990s-Present

Chapter 5. Israel, BDS, and Academic Freedom

Chapter 6. In Lieu of a Conclusion: An Unpublished Speech on Academic Freedom by Edward W. Said