Robert Quinn

Robert Quinn

Robert Quinn is a human rights lawyer and Executive Director of the Scholars at Risk, an network of higher education institutions dedicated to protecting scholars and promoting academic freedom.

Location New York University, New York, USA

Activity

  • Great point. That's why there is a responsibility attached to academic freedom. A responsibility to use one's academic freedom to adhere to professional and ethical standards (including transparency about whether a statement is backed up by evidence). And a responsibility to refute assertions made by others claiming academic freedom protection when those...

  • We will be looking at the agency issue-- that is, who gets to decide if a question is protected by academic freedom-- in later sessions...

  • Stick with us Digital B, we will be discussing academic freedom as a human rights in later sessions of the course...

  • Can you clarify B.M? A "perceived lack of safety" FOR WHOM? The academic? Students? The public? For whom?

  • Thank you Marjolijn for your kindness and solidarity with our Afghan colleagues! The situation is terrible, especially for women and girls, but individuals actions like yours and help from your university are making a big difference for hundreds of Afghans, maybe more. Thank you!

  • I appreciate your sharing your view here Antonio, but let me push a little-- is academic freedom really the freedom from ANY consequences? Or are their ever negative consequences that are appropriate? For example, if a scholar writes a really poor quality article, shouldn't there be some consequences?

    (Another way of asking this is, are there any...

  • Thank's for raising the difficult question of self-censorship, defined as when scholars or others impose limits on what they research, publish, teach or say for fear of some kind of negative retribution. In our work at Scholars at Risk, we know it happens, but struggle to find effective ways to measure the scope of self-censorship, and to develop more...

  • So maybe the issue is not "what is the question?" but "what factors/conditions make an otherwise safe question dangerous to ask (and dangerous for whom?)

  • Thank you for staying with the course this far.

    Remember that you can download Scholars at Risk's handbooks, which include a lot of the course content, and use them for reference in the future. The links are included in the additional course materials.

  • @AndrewBlair Take for example the situation of a country prohibits academics from entering a certain sub-territory in order to conduct research (presumably b/c the government does not want the possible results of that research known). It might be difficult to claim a free expression violation, because the academics never even get the chance to develop the...

  • @AndrewBlair thank you for sharing the link.

  • I think part of the difficulty is the label. To me, saying “no platform” — suggests that the ideas are off limits, and sets up a discussion — without clear lines of participation and authority— about what ideas can be prejudged.

    I would be more comfortable with discussion about “no violence” , which sets up a discussion about what is or is not an...

  • We know of course that there are differences in every country. But this course suggests that there are similarities within all universities— or at least there should be. Maybe we can build on these similarities, while discussing the differences in an open and respectful way.

    Thank you for joining the course and sharing your views. We hope more...

  • The points about complexity and the need for thoughtfulness are both very important. But I would distinguish between (1) the core values themselves (in this case, academic freedom), and (2) their implementation in a specific local context. We can assert the universality of the principle of academic freedom, even as we recognize that local implementation...

  • Thanks Peter! In this course one goal is to demonstrate that in many discussions of academic freedom, there is often an implicit, unacknowledged "drawing of lines" by stakeholders, and where each draws their line often impacts their respective understanding of whether conduct is or is not protected by academic freedom (as distinguished from (i) free...

  • Thank you Albert! We loved having you in the course and are very grateful for your sharing your views and experiences.

    If you or any other course participants found it useful, we would be grateful if you would share the course information with others, so they might experience the content in the course's next run in spring 2019.

  • I think many institutions (and scholars, administrators) have taken academic freedom for granted, and assumed that (i) academic freedom exists; (ii) is understood by all the same way; and (iii) therefore is not at serious risk. This course tries to expose that these assumptions might be false, especially (ii) the idea that even among people who all claim to...

  • Welcome to the course! It's not too late and we look forward to your further comments.

  • Thanks for the suggestions, we will look into them.

    Reminder to all that there are exercises and guidance for leading workshops available in the companion SAR publications to this course (a guide for discussion and a related workshop supplement), which are available for free download...

  • "Politics out of the classroom" is often said as a simple truth, but what do we mean by "politics"? Do we agree on what the term means?

    In an academic sense, the term "politics" can refer most broadly to any exchange of information or power between persons or groups of persons. For example, the "interpersonal politics" of male-female communication; "the...

  • @PiotrC Thanks for this. I agree academic freedom CAN BE, and often is, challenging to authority structures based on restricting freedom, especially freedom of information and dissent. But does it HAVE TO be? Are these restrictive authorities perhaps mis-diagnosing their own situation?

    Is it not plausible that authority structures based on restricting...

  • I appreciate the view that working together toward consensus is useful, but how do we decide which voices-- authorities, academics, student bodies, the public--should be included in that consensus building?

    Do professors in the economics department have to be consulted to know "where the line is" on appropriate research in a literature department?

    Do...

  • @WondwosenTamrat Note how the general definition of "equitable access" that is provided includes "active facilitation of access for members of traditionally underrepresented groups." So special consideration to history and context is built into the definition. Of course what consideration and how to implement any programs aimed at remedying historical...

  • @LesleyW. Of course it's not a direct comparison.

    As we said earlier -- this course is mostly about academic freedom, but we could in theory apply the same analysis and exercises to all five of the core values introduced. So within the framework of this course we can view your question (about who's "footing the bill") as asking "where is the line between...

  • You say "if they implement the academic freedom, they will lose their position." Why is that? Can you say a bit more?

    Even in closed societies, are there not small ways for authorities within universities to create some space for asking questions more freely?

  • @LesleyW. We did not talk about it much in this course, but remember one of the five core values we discussed earlier in Week 1 is "accountability," which generally has to do with the higher education sector demonstrating responsible use and accounting for public funding.

    So you are right, we have a responsibility to "those footing the bill". The...

  • I apologize for any difficulty and will raise the question with our technical partners on the course.

  • Felix and all colleagues, thank you for joining us in this course run. We are grateful for your contributions, and glad if you found the course material useful.

    Following Felix's suggestion that "the documentation could add incidents from other institutions," you will get an email from us inviting you to share examples or practices from your institution or...

  • OK, but how would you define "danger to society"? Who gets to define "danger"? Who speaks for "society"?

  • @LodewijkJanNauta Thanks for these posts, but let's go a step deeper:

    Case 2(1): "Organized by university members": Does it matter which member(s) of the university community? The Rector/President? A department/school chair/dean? A single professor? A single student? A member of the non-academic staff? Who has (should have) the power to invite...

  • I appreciate the link to the story about Professor Geras's article.

    In the framework of this course, the Professor's "dangerous" question appears to be (I have not read the article): "When is non-state, political violence justified?"

    Skipping over the answer he (presumably ) offers, it is easy to understand why this question would be perceived as...

  • Thanks for sharing this Michael.

    But may I push a little--for everyone reading, not just you-- What are the real world consequences of this proposition? That is, if we agree with the proposition that sometimes "our understanding of academic freedom" may be different from a prospective partner (institution or government) in another place, what should we...

  • Thanks to all for participating. And if you use any of the materials in your courses or at your institutions, please send us an email (scholarsatrisk@nyu.edu) and let us know what kind of feedback you get!

  • I would agree that there should be a presumption in favor of the ability to ask questions; that is, we might assume that there should not be a line-- in most cases.

    But this course also suggests this presumption must be married with an obligation to ask questions responsibly. This is why most major research universities today have internal "ethics review...

  • I agree. In one sense, academic freedom is all about protecting those who work in the "gray areas" of knowledge, for the benefit of society.

  • For all, regarding the original concern about conscious attempts to deny airing of some views ("no platforming"), I would flag that we will discuss elements of this in Week 3. We will offer some frameworks for exploring whether such conduct is appropriate, and then invite course participants (you!) to help decide what responses are appropriate in different...

  • Thanks for sharing this. I had not known of his case. Here is a passage discussing it from "FREEDOM OF SCIENTIFIC PRACTICE IN THE NETHERLANDS," Advisory Memorandum by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences", March 2018, page 10...

  • I am so sorry for what you, your colleagues and students have endured/are enduring. And I am grateful that despite the difficulties, you continue to be a voice for the values of higher education.

    For those who are not familiar with the terrible situation in Nicaragua and the student protests, it is included in our recent report, Free to Think 2018,...

  • @LodewijkJanNauta Let me also add for your consideration -- statements do not have to be true to be protected by academic freedom. By this I mean that academic freedom also protects scholars when they make mistakes in their scholarship. I am not talking about intentional, malicious falsehoods, but one of the main functions of academic freedom is it allows...

  • @SusanS There is no question that any of these concepts -- "academic freedom," "social responsibility", "professional standards" can all be misused. But our best chance to respond to that misuse comes from defending the freedom to ask questions and present contrary evidence (including about policies and processes within higher ed), and defending scholars,...

  • Sure! I think the main point here is that we tend to think of threats to academic freedom as intentional, violent or threatening acts. And that is certainly true in many cases (sadly). But there is a wide range of other conduct that can threaten academic freedom and other core values. Some of that conduct is intentional (e.g. protesting something or...

  • I think "Is there a line?", "Where is the line?" and "Have they actually crossed the line?" are to me all versions of the same question, namely, are there boundaries on academic freedom? What questions can (or cannot) be asked?

    In this step and throughout the course, we are suggesting that even more important than the question about whether there are...

  • I certainly agree on both points-- the causal relationships between the five core values discussed in this course, and the concept of a "compact" between society and universities.

    As to the causal relationship, some course participants might be interested in the report at this link which argues a connection between institutional autonomy and the security...

  • @SusanS Thanks for the added thoughts!

    Using the framework of this course, I would agree that the value of "social responsibility" has a contextual dimension, and that dimension needs to be taken into account when exercising academic freedom. How that happens is challenging.

    But at Step 2.4 we suggest that more important than how/where the line is...

  • @PatriciaHay There's a lot of interesting stuff in here! But let me clarify that this course is not arguing that some **people** get "extra rights" compared to other people (all human beings have (or should have) the same human rights).

    We are arguing that some **roles/functions** are so important to society/human rights, that those roles/functions are...

  • I agree! It is challenging to seek solutions/outcomes that seek genuine harmony between the five core values discussed in this course.

    In steps 3.9 to 3.16 we will offer tools that might provide the guidance you are looking for on "how to resolve disputes arising between values." In the case of the controversial speaker-- who extended the invitation? ...

  • @ErnestoMedina
    What if the protest was not about corruption, but about something more closely related to your professional expertise?

    (I don't know what kind of chemistry you do, but there are certainly chemistry-related concerns in protests about global warming/climate change, food safety, water/environment.)

    That case, some effort to indicate...

  • @LodewijkJanNauta

    Sorry for the difficulty.

    Could you share whether you are trying to see the results on your phone or on a desktop/laptop? And in what browser? I will then consult with the technical support team.

  • The question on whether and how to engage in places where academic freedom is limited is an important and difficult one.

    In considering it, I find it useful to remember first that academic freedom incidents can arise in every country and society-- even in places with very strong legal or cultural protections for academic freedom. Take this case from 2008...

  • Perhaps it would be helpful to look at the situation of journalism and press freedom today (which I think is indicative of one possible future path for academic freedom).

    "Who is an academic?" is a lot like "Who is a journalist?"

    Does the answer depend on what kind of employer the person has? (e.g., if a university signs your paycheck you are an...

  • I would suggest that the "we've had enough of experts" position is about power--an attempt to achieve a goal, whether supported by evidence/truth or not.

    According to the framework in this course, the freedom to seek evidence/truth that is protected by academic freed carries with it two corresponding responsibilities:

    (1) a responsibility of academic...

  • This is interesting. Could you say a little more? Are you suggesting that there should be zones where questioning is off limits?

    Or are you saying that in defending the right to ask question, we need to guard against dishonest efforts? Efforts that appear to be asking questions in good faith, but in fact are using the questions to assert power over...

  • I agree that the five values could be plotted that way and it could be helpful for visualizing the intersections, supports and tensions across the values.

    One could also break out each of the five values into sub-elements that could also be plotted. See for example the impressive work of the European University Association on mapping autonomy: EUA...

  • What criteria is a good question. We all wear multiple hats in our lives every day. But in the case of academic freedom there are professional standards which can be a guide to determining (a) whether the actor in a professional role and (b) if the behavior in that role was appropriate. (Or at least this course argues there are!)

  • There is no doubt that there is a huge gap in implementation of protections. In Step 1.13 we touch on this, acknowledging "[b]ut remember, just because a question is protected by academic freedom or freedom of expression in theory, does not mean that members of higher education communities may not suffer harms in practice when states or others violate those...

  • Details on the Khan case in 2017 can be found here: https://www.scholarsatrisk.org/2017/04/pakistan-mob-kills-student-injures-two-others-blasphemy-allegations/.

    Scholars at Risk just released its annual report, Free to Think 2018, which sadly includes many such cases. The report and a summary video can be found here: ...

  • Hi everyone! I am Rob Quinn, one of the facilitators for this course. I thank you for spending some time with us exploring these important issues, and look forward to your comments, questions and discussions.

    So you know, I will generally be online between 8 AM and 9 AM EST (GMT-4 this week, GMT-5 following weeks), and off and on at other times. My...

  • This just in!

    On June 19, 2018, the European Court of Human Rights issued a judgment in Kula v. Turkey (application no. 20233/06), concerning a disciplinary reprimand imposed on a university professor for taking part in a television programme on the subject of “The cultural structure of the European Union and the traditional structure of Turkey –...

  • Yes, but remember that even under the traditional view, a scholar still needs to behave "according to ethical and professional standards of his or her particular discipline." Academic freedom doesn't protect fraud, falsification or other intentional misrepresentation, for example.

  • Good questions. Whether higher ed students enjoy academic freedom and to what extent often come up. In sum, there is broad consensus that for scholar's freedom to teach to have any meaning, students must at least have some freedom/protection for receiving and engaging with the material presented. This is articulated in the German concept of 'lernfreiheit',...

  • Thanks! Do send along any feedback from your meeting. We would love any suggestions for how to make the course better, or how to get the content to a wider audience.

    And FYI, we hope to be running the course again in October if any other colleagues want to try it!

  • There's a LOT in here, but let's focus on this line, since it seems to come up a lot lately and is directly on point for this course:

    "Does one try to discredit what might be deemed a reputable [scholarly article] through debate or discussion or just shout the speaker down with personal attacks and innuendo."

    From an academic freedom point of view, the...

  • Interesting. Why does the speaker being scholar or not matter? What else matters? Does it matter who invited the speaker? The university vice chancellor vs. a professor vs. a student group? Does it matter who finds the speaker controversial? Faculty in the same department vs. other departments vs. students vs. people outside the university community? ...

  • @StevenStone I would have to know more about each of the examples to know what to think. In what course was abortion discussed? Computer science? Theology? Obstetrics? Same for marriage and border wall. What scholarship (data, articles, etc.) supported the claim? For what academic or pedagogical purpose? If the topics came up in academically...

  • @MatthewFrench @JohannaTruijens I never saw the post either. The FutureLearn Moderators are not part of this specific course team. I will inquire, but generally they monitor for profanity or comments they feel target specific individuals or groups. (Matthew-- I am not saying you did either, just saying this is how FL describes the moderator role.)

    But...

  • @MatthewFrench But shouldn't we have a higher bar than what is "permissible"?

    Shouldn't academics, at least in their teaching, make efforts to find the most effective way of engaging with their students, pedagogically speaking? And certainly likelihood of offense is predictable in many cases. At least in those cases, shouldn't we factor in whether...

  • Here's a link to a story about other recent US cases:

    https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2018/04/04/590928008/professor-harassment

  • Robert Quinn replied to [Learner left FutureLearn]

    Thanks S.A. We are exploring trying to translate some or all of this course into other languages.

    What course Step #s do you (or others) think would be most important to translate?

    What languages would you most like to see us translate it into?

  • @PeteG. I would guess you are not alone in questioning the idea of "correct credentials"-- meaning a diploma and/or job title--as someone how convening greater access to what is "true." And if an academic's claim to truth is only based on a piece of paper or a title, I would agree with you, and their view in that case is just an opinion.

    But we live...

  • @MariaCristinaParra-Sandoval @JanetP

    re: "Do I have the right to offend other personal beliefs, religious, for example?"

    If you are asking if expression that offends personal beliefs is protected by academic freedom the answer is, it depends. If the expression is not part of an academic discussion (not related to academic inquiry, teaching or...

  • @JanetP I can't speak to the Hitler/Downfall example, but appreciate your raising the "time wasting" issue. The space in a course curriculum, the # of events on a campus each week, the number of books/articles one can possibly read-- these are all finite, and the time invested in them is a valuable resource. Some filtering has to happen if academic discourse...

  • @JohannaTruijens I never said "higher" or "special" responsibility than other professionals/adults, and would agree that all individuals have some measure of social responsibility. And how that is delineated, by whom, and at what cost, is what this course is all about!

    But the main point for now is that the banner of "academic freedom" does not excuse...

  • Questions about the (i) intention/purpose of questions that can be expected to offend, as well as (ii) the manner/forum in which such questions are be asked, are important. Think about these in relation to other core higher education values, discussed in Step 1.8, and the line between inquiry/debate and conduct which is violent or coercive, discussed in Step...

  • Your comment raises the core questions we posed earlier: What is the scope of the value? (social responsibility), Who gets to decide? & What are the consequences for transcending perceived limits? I don't think the fact that these are challenging questions negates the value itself. Rather, this highlights that we (in higher education) have to better respond...

  • @ElisabethWatkins Good point.

    Yes, Americans sometimes say "where did you go to school?" when in context they mean "university" or "college" (higher education). This is just a casual usage.

    But when we say "school boards" we almost always mean the oversight board for K-12 education (not higher education), and very often mean K-8. In our federal...

  • (continued from prior post...)

    4. the AAUP (American Association of University Professors, for those not in the US) uses terms that are a little different from this course, but the spirit is the same. The AAUP calls this example "extramural utterances" and describes them as a "constitutive part" of the "American conception of academic freedom," by which...

  • @AusrinePasvenskiene Great question on a tricky point. Taking your example:

    1. Because it is "outside the HEI" it would likely be outside the protection of the traditional view of academic freedom, as described in this course;

    2. Because it is "not related to his/her expertise" or "institutional affiliation" it would also likely be outside the...

  • I am sorry for the trouble Elisabeth. We will see if we can share some other guidance. For now m/b if you have not already you might try using a different browser and see if that helps?

  • I agree that academics, as individuals, are not any more special than any other individuals.

    But what about the idea that the **academic function is special**? By which I mean spending years developing skills, insight and expertise, and sharing the results of these with the widest society, not for profit but for the public benefit. Doesn't that have a...

  • Thanks Elisabeth. You may and others be interested in pages 101-102 of the article I just added to be the bottom of the page (under "downloads"). In it, I talk about two conflicting visions of the purpose of education (education-as-training versus education-for-learning) and how these views impact academic freedom and even the safety/security of higher...

  • I agree the terms are imperfect. The traditional view of academic freedom tries to avoid some of the messiness of subjectivity by focusing on objective criteria of place and audience. But in practice these lines are not as clear as they seem, and the price for this apparent clarity can be to cut off "academic" discourse from the wider public. The...

  • I agree that asking academics to engage more broadly with the public is putting them in riskier environments. But what choice is there?

    The traditional view of academic freedom says "stay inside "academic" space, and you will be safe." The socially-engaged view suggests an alternative "security bargain", in effect. It says academics have a responsibility...

  • Yes, that is right. As we go through the course we will explore this more, with some examples.

    And we can also explore the question of which claim to protection (which hat) might be more EFFECTIVE in different examples (such as a dispute arising out of on campus research, versus a dispute arising out of an off campus public protest).

  • Thanks Janet. On your last point about "might also be protected," all we mean to flag at this point is general free expression is in one sense more broad than academic freedom, and not every opinion or expression of a person who happens to be an academic would be protected by academic freedom (for example, my opinion of the quality of play by our local...

  • Thanks for sharing Ausrine. I agree with you. In the article linked at the bottom of this step, we argue that academic freedom is "independently and interdependently derived from the rights to freedom of opinion and expression and the right to education." The article goes on to argue that legal standards concerning academic freedom as a human right are...

  • Hi Viviana! I think it depends on what we mean by not "*in any way* engaged in research and teaching functions."

    Many administrators have a range of responsibilities. Some of those responsibilities relate to research and teaching functions--organizing the university's courses, research, admissions, academic staff hiring and international exchange...

  • I think the main point in this step is that academic freedom is only one of several core values. The challenge is how to find solutions which respect and harmonize all of the values, rather than allowing a claim to one value (e.g. autonomy) to control or overrule the others (e.g. academic freedom)? This isn't easy, and there are lots of examples where...

  • Apologies for any having trouble. I have been told that if we are having this problem we should first look at the settings on the browser/device you are using and to "accept" cookies from the Futurelearn or Mentimeter platforms.

    Sorry for any trouble!

  • Gavin, let's see how you feel about the distinction between academic freedom and freedom of expression (free speech) after some of the later steps in the course.

    But regarding the view that academic freedom "is a private right whose main value is academic": This course argues that above and beyond academic outputs (research and teaching), one of the main...

  • @IdaIselinEriksson I think you both make a good point. Thanks for flagging it! The image is from the poster announcing the creation of the Scholars at Risk network in June 2000. If we made it today, I am sure we would have headlines from the US, Canada, Norway, the UK, Hungary, etc. (but that doesn't mean we shouldn't have found some in 2000!). We will...

  • A lot of us think about "dangerous" questions at the macro level: questions that challenge the state or other large, official power. But what about the micro level? Are there questions or ideas that we don't ask even of our peers, classmates or colleagues? What are we afraid of?

  • Glad to hear your university is supporting you and your colleagues. Thanks for joining the course!

  • Thanks for joining us Ausrine!

    If you are interested in the intersection of academic freedom and human rights, be sure to check out the "related links" at the bottom of step 1.10.

  • Thanks for joining us Ida! Good to hear from you again.

  • Thanks Janet. I am looking for help on that right now!

  • @JanetP Thanks Janet and Elizabeth. Compared to "accepted norms", how would you feel about the phrase "according to the professional standards" of each scholar's particular discipline? That is something we will be discussing just a little later in the week....

  • Robert Quinn replied to [Learner left FutureLearn]

    Thanks for sharing your experience S.A.

    In this course, we will touch on some of the elements you mention. Later this week, especially in Step 1.16, for example, we will touch on the line between different kinds of free expression (including religious belief) and academic inquiry or expression. And in Week 2 we will talk a bit about threats to academic...

  • Hi everybody! Thanks so much for joining us in the course and sharing your comments. I am Rob, one of your guides through the material. But the way I see it all of us have first-hand experience with self-censorship and thinking twice before we ask difficult or sensitive questions. So I am really looking forward to the discussions and appreciate your...