Academic freedom under attack
Academic freedom is under attack in Calgary as censors target legitimate academic discussion about aboriginal policy and the soundness of indigenous spirituality as a research methodology.
Joseph Quesnel - November 14, 2008
Universities have been called “islands of oppression in a sea of freedom.”
While this criticism is often levelled against universities for draconian “speech codes,” a group of Canadian academics is looking to further limit legitimate discussion about academic issues.
Just ask scholar Frances Widdowson. The political scientist from Mount Royal College in Calgary now fears for the state of academic debate and discussion in Canada after she discovered on a blog that a paper she presented at an academic conference in June may have inspired a caucus within the Canadian Political Science Association (CPSA) to introduce a motion that calls upon the organization to create a policy regulating “hate speech” at academic conferences. The Western Standard has viewed an emailed copy of this motion, which will be discussed in early December.
The group, called the Women’s Caucus, introduced the motion which calls upon the CPSA board to create a policy concerning “speech that promotes hatred or creates a hostile environment.” Moreover, the motion calls for a policy creating guidelines for professional conduct at panels during annual meetings and covers all participants.
What bothers Widdowson is that she was never contacted by the CPSA or the Women’s Caucus about these concerns or how her presentation could have been deemed “hate speech,” although she strongly believes this motion is directly related to her presentation at the CPSA’s annual meeting in June 2008. She only discovered the existence of this policy from a blog hosted by another academic.
“I am still trying to get to the bottom of this, but it is difficult because the CPSA's Women's Caucus is an amorphous body, which means that no one has to take responsibility for anything,” says Widdowson.
The Western Standard was not able to locate the Women’s Caucus or obtain comment from any of its representatives.
For Widdowson, attempts to create such a policy are really attempts to prevent debate on controversial issues.
“Attempts to crack down on ‘offensive speech’ are highly subjective and can be used to stop people from saying things that are scientifically valid, but unpopular,” she said, in an emailed response.
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