What is Academic Freedom and Tenure, and Why Do They Matter (e.g., for teaching about religion!)?

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Жыл бұрын

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Should the administrators of universities, their alumni, or their boards of trustees have any say in what teachers teach -- for example, in classes about religion? Should they be able to control the classroom in any way? What about the argument that university professors are brainwashing their students to follow their liberal agenda, while hiding behind “academic freedom”? Does the U.S. system of tenure allow professors to say whatever they want, safe in the knowledge that they can never be fired? What IS tenure anyway, and why does it matter? These are some of the key issues we'll be addressing in this discussion of academic freedom and tenure.
In this episode, Megan asks Bart:
-What exactly is tenure?
-What do you have to do to be considered worthy of tenure? How long does it take?
-Are people often denied tenure?
-Once you have tenure then it makes it a lot harder to fire you, does this give you the freedom to say whatever you want within the classroom?
-Does having tenure allow you to “brainwash” students, or indoctrinate them into your own ideology?
-What IS academic freedom?
-Why is academic freedom important to professors, and does it also impact students?
-How would higher education be impacted if tenure were abolished?
-Is this a problem in private institutions as well as state?
-How does tenure factor into academic freedom in publication?

Пікірлер: 184

@mcgie2002 Жыл бұрын

As a European, i’m amazed this is an issue. Even the most conservative university here would not interfere with academic freedom. US societal dualism never ceases to amaze me…

@JayBandersnatch Жыл бұрын

At one point in my life I thought tenure meant you were teaching for "ten years"😂😂😂

@brandontaylor8762 Жыл бұрын

Tenure...great...but there are also serious issues with it. It also protects professors who overwork and sexually harass their graduate students (the numbers are staggering, and also speaking from personal experience). And in most state schools, grad students do most of the work of teaching, doing both the grading and handling all interactions with students outside of a 500 person lecture hall, but graduate students have no similar employment protections. So, like, we DO need a better system, one that protects academic freedom, AND also doesn't give professors so much power over the livelihood of their graduate students. PS love to hear Megan's opinions about this as a former grad student, if she's comfortable w it

@lisadioguardi5742 Жыл бұрын

I had a professor for an advanced database course who often snuck in right-wing his views, including things like having us write queries for tables named things like democrats_raise_taxes and republicans_are_strong, and more than a few times it came up in lectures without any attempt to make it about databases. I just did the assignments and no one complained about him, but I do think it showed a lack of respect for the time students paid for.

@jeffryphillipsburns Жыл бұрын

I’ve had plenty of teachers in grade school and high school who attempted to indoctrinate students. These teachers invariably subscribed to a political philosophy, such as it may be, broadly and typically described as “conservative”. I don’t recall attempts at indoctrination in college, but my experience in grad school demonstrated to me serious other problems with tenure. One problem is that people are publishing just to get tenure, not because they have something valuable to contribute or because they even really care about what they’re publishing. Academic journals in my field are filled with utter rubbish, some of it dishonest, and it drastically clutters and impedes serious scholarship. Another problem is that at my particular school, at least, quid pro quo was rampant. Teachers seeking tenure would demand special favors from students in return for teaching assistant appointments, job recommendations, and even good grades. In return, among other things, these teachers required glowing teacher evaluation reviews and being cited in the student’s published works. There are also some teachers who seem to think they have proprietary ownership of students’s ideas and work and will plunder them and publish them under their own name with no credit given to the student.

@romeyjondorf Жыл бұрын

So, I AM allowed to draw Muhammad?

@Horvat04 Жыл бұрын

Thats so boring compared to the jesus ones..

@lesfleurs9781 Жыл бұрын

I have always loved all of your discussions, so this one today was really exceptional. It is truly mind-boggling what is happening to this country. It is becoming the land of the not so free and stupidity! scary stuff!

@Actuary1776 Жыл бұрын

The issue isn’t with tenure, the issue is with the fact that the state is a involved with education. The idea that someone has what is essentially a pass for employment for life is dumb, and the idea that the government can say what can it can’t be taught is even dumber.

@CK-dz8fo Жыл бұрын

Dr. Ehrman! Thank you for brining up this issue!

@sailorbychoice1 Жыл бұрын

33:45

@hannahg8439 Жыл бұрын

As a European it is seriously scaring me to so what's been happening in America the last few years. After being a model democracy for more than 200 years, the USA are now at a crossroads and it seems as if they are going to take the authoritarian route.

@TheDanEdwards Жыл бұрын

As Dr. Ehrman notes, these days a significant fraction of the faculty may not be on a tenure track. This is lamented as the "adjunct" problem, at least seen as a problem by the faculty. The management (the board of regents, etc.) love adjuncts though because they are cheaper. If anything, tenure will continue to disappear as universities and colleges seek to find ever-cheaper ways to hire teachers.

@chriscodrington5464 Жыл бұрын

Such a critical topic which threatens sentient study in all fields , thanks to you both for your care and attention to this glaring threat to our culture, Arts and sciences expressed sensibly and I think, correctly

@jupru220 Жыл бұрын

This discussion reminds me of this one highly knowledgeable prof. He had problems with the government and religious leaders for teaching his expertise. He was labeled a heretic and murdered for his steadfast devotion to sharing his knowledge. His name was William Tyndale. Though he was strangled and burned at the stake, his Biblical translations and teachings have survived and influenced many Biblical scholars for hundreds of years. As the saying goes, "You can't keep a good man [woman] down."

@TeacherAlyssaTravels

I'm thankful for stumbling upon this video! What an enlightening discussion that brought forth so much understanding for me.

@Mike-jl1rl Жыл бұрын

It's a pleasure listening to these conversations!

@miroirs-jumeaux Жыл бұрын

I'd love to hear Dr. Ehrman talk to Dr. Gad Saad.

@bmt-zo1ue Жыл бұрын

('Tenure' sounds like being appointed a life-time judgeship!) Political leaders dictating what can be taught in schools/ universities, is the road to authoritarianism - Dr Ruth Ben-Ghiat talks/ warns about this.

@jholloway77 Жыл бұрын

I've found that people get really angry with regards to experts in politics, history, religion, etc. because they see it as anti-democratic and have the idea that in our society that everyone's opinion is equal; or at the very least their own view is equally important to someone who spends a lifetime studying the subject.