Academic freedom

Having survived threats from a wide variety of ideologies (isms), religious and secular, going back to the first commandment, academic freedom is again under the gun of ideological fashion (orthodoxy, political correctness), plutocracy and feminism — at least the more extremist wings. The paper offers an analysis and justification of the traditional concept of academic freedom — the discretionary (but limited) rights of academics over a wide range of activities under the headings of teaching and research. The justification collects three lines of argument: (a) rights of the competent, (b) institutional benefits of separation of powers, and (c) the implications of fallibilism. Focus then shifts to an analysis and critique of a recent feminist revision of academic freedom. Implementing a common stratagem, freedom gets redefined as duties of affirmative action toward women (and minorities). A critique of this revision is sketched.     

学术自由与学术腐败

本文对学术自由的历史渊源进行了考察,分析了学术自由的制约和学术腐败的根源,对政府和学者个人在维护学术自由和遏制学术腐败方面的具体做法提出了自己的一些观点.     

学术自由与学术责任——大学学术发展的价值协调

学术自由是大学理念中一个最基本的学术价值观,它不仅是学术研究者的一种权利,而且体现为大学内部所特有的独立品格和精神。自17世纪末期近代大学形成以来,学术自由的理念不断强化,内涵不断丰富,逐步成为大学之所以为大学的基础、动力源和基本理念。三百年来,一方面学术自由使大学保持着宽松的研究氛围,传承文明,追求真理;另一方面,在所谓“学术自由”的保护伞下,一些研究人员却暗中接受政府巨额资金,为政府不光彩的行动出谋划策,学术腐败和对学生不负责任的行为也时有发生。对曾经寄予厚望、充满理想色彩的学术圣地——“大学”,人们已颇多…     

学术自由、知识与社会

学术自由是现代大学的核心价值,对社会亦极为重要。本文回顾了学术自由的历史渊源和发展,揭示这一概念是如何围绕着知识而建构的,指出在这一理念在西方国家所面临的挑战和威胁,并论述了中国的文化传统和学术自由的历史与现状,最后提出如何重塑这一普世理想。

Abstract：

This article addresses the issue of academic freedom as one of the fundamental principles central to modern university,discussing its importance for the society,exploring how the concept is socially constructed from a historical perspective,and revealing that underlying the notion is desirability of knowledge.This article then identifies threats and challenges to academic freedom western universities face mainly in the contemporary context.At last,academic freedom is discussed in the Chinese context,followed by a reconstruction of academic freedom as a universal ideal.     

Academic freedom and current public policy

In this presentation, I shall examine the issue of academic freedom and current public policy, and will do so by referring to the present state of affairs in this respect in Russia and, more particularly at St. Petersburg State University.     

Academic freedom in germany before and after 1933

A Nation at Risk (NAR; National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983) had a tremendous impact on what schools do and has since spawned other reforms that attest to the report's ongoing influence. Coming in the wake of a decade of economic stagnation and import pressures from overseas producers, the authors of NAR blamed these problems on schools. In this article, we show that there was little justification for this conclusion, then or now. Although education clearly plays a role in the economy, it is only one of many factors. We find little evidence that there is a large or growing mismatch between worker skills and employer demands. Moreover, the American work force and economy continue to be among the most productive in the world. We should improve our schools and our economy, but real improvement will only occur when their problems are correctly diagnosed.     

Academic freedom: International realities and challenges

Academic freedom is a central value of higher education. It affects the academic profession in all aspects of academic work. Yet, academic freedom is rarely discussed in the context of the changes taking place in higher education in the current period. The concept is defined in a historical and comparative framework, and the challenges facing academic freedom around the world are discussed.     

大学学术自治与学术自由的比较阐释

学术自治和学术自由是高等教育发展所关心的课题，本对二作了比较的阐述，认为学术自治是学术自由的保障，在学术自治中实践着学术自由。进而从教育实践角度总结国内外的经验与做法，并就我国高等教育领域中贯彻这一原则提出了进行制度创新的基本设想，主要包括学术促裁制度、学术风险制度、学术基金制度及学术柔性管理制度等建议。     

Benchmarking Academic Research Output in Australia

In higher education the uptake of benchmarking has been slow, despite its recognition elsewhere as an important tool in the pursuit of continuous quality improvement. The need for national benchmarks of research productivity and quality will be felt intensely in Australia in 1995 as the Committee for Quality Assurance in Higher Education focuses on research evaluation. This paper presents benchmarks for publications productivity for Australian academic researchers based on an empirical study of all reported publications output from the Australian university system in 1991. ‘Publications productivity’ in this paper is defined as the number of publications per 10 equivalent academic staff members. Benchmarks for aggregate publications output per staff member, and for each of 13 types of publications, are reported for the highest performing institution, and highest performing organisational units within any institution. Applicability within Australian higher education of citation impact indices as an indicator of research quality is discussed.