Ep. 231: What is academic freedom? With Keith Whittington

“Who controls what is taught in American universities —
professors or politicians?”


Yale Law professor Keith Whittington answers this timely question
and more in his new book, “You Can’t Teach That! The Battle over
University Classrooms.” He joins the podcast to discuss the
history of academic freedom, the difference between intramural
and extramural speech, and why there is a “weaponization” of
intellectual diversity.


Keith E. Whittington is the David Boies Professor of Law at Yale
Law School. Whittington’s teaching and scholarship span American
constitutional theory, American political and constitutional
history, judicial politics, the presidency, and free speech and
the law.


Read the transcript.


Timestamps: 


00:00 Intro


02:00 The genesis of Yale’s Center for Academic Freedom and Free
Speech


04:42 The inspiration behind “You Can’t Teach That!”


06:18 The First Amendment and academic freedom


09:29 Extramural speech and the public sphere


17:56 Intramural speech and its complexities


23:13 Florida’s Stop WOKE Act


26:34 Distinctive features of K-12 education


31:13 University of Pennsylvania professor Amy Wax


39:02 University of Kansas professor Phillip Lowcock


43:42 Muhlenberg College professor Maura Finkelstein


47:01 University of Wisconsin La-Crosse professor Joe Gow


54:47 Northwestern professor Arthur Butz


57:52 Inconsistent applications of university policies


01:02:23 Weaponization of “intellectual diversity”


01:05:53 Outro


Show notes:




“Speak Freely: Why Universities Must Defend Free Speech”
Keith Whittington (2019)




“You Can't Teach That!: The Battle Over University
Classrooms” Keith Whittington (2023)




AAUP Declaration of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure
(1915)




AAUP Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure
(1940)




“Kinsey” (2004)




Stop WOKE Act, HB 7. (Fla. 2022)




Keyishian v. Board of Regents (1967)




Indiana intellectual diversity law, S.E.A. 354 (Ind. 2022)




“Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District”
(1969)