Teaching in the new climate of conservatism: Introduction

This paper (1) summarizes the main points of the papers in the volume which demonstrate some of the ways that academic freedom is at odds with recent conservative attacks on the professoriate; (2) argues that some of the conservative attacks from students on faculty are at base a failure to acknowledge their equal personhood, but treat them as inferior beings and thus elicit harmful psychological reactions similar to those found in victims of racist slurs; and (3) examines possible solutions, including distancing on the part of faculty, and distributing the burden of critical thinking among all faculty and college courses, thereby making academic freedom a reality for all.