By Scott Jaschik. College regularly criticized over aborted talk in 2017 again fails to let a speaker talk. Campus was unsettled over chemistry exam question on how to make gas used by Nazis. More...
University Rejects Calls to Fire Camille Paglia
By Scott Jaschik. Students and others demand her dismissal because of statements on Me Too and on transgender people. More...
MIT Adds Review of Some International Projects
By Scott Jaschik. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Wednesday announced it was starting a new process for "elevated risk" projects involving collaborations with "people or entities from China (including Hong Kong), Russia and Saudi Arabia." The new review will go beyond traditional systems of examining the value of projects. More...
Paying a Price for Opposing Czech President
By David Matthews for Times Higher Education. The president of the Czech Republic is attempting to turn the country’s population against intellectuals and polarize society by vetoing professorships for critical academics, according to an art historian who has had his promotion repeatedly blocked. More...
Cambridge University rescinds Jordan Peterson invitation
Cambridge University has rescinded its offer of a visiting fellowship to Jordan Peterson, the self-styled “professor against political correctness”, after a backlash from faculty and students. More...
Professor Suspended After Criticizing China’s Leadership
By Elizabeth Redden. A constitutional law professor who wrote a series of essays critical of China’s leadership has been suspended from teaching at Tsinghua University, one of China’s leading universities, the Financial Times reported. More...
Lecture Halls for Learning, Not Watching Netflix
By Lindsay McKenzie. A Purdue University pilot program that blocked access to Netflix and other streaming sites in lecture halls is being rolled out across all academic spaces on campus. More...
Too Taboo for Class?
By Colleen Flaherty. Augsburg University in Minnesota suspended a professor for using the N-word during a class discussion about a James Baldwin book in which the word appeared -- and for sharing essays on the history of the word with students who complained to him about it. More...
Quand l'autocensure bloque la créativité d'un groupe, et comment s'en sortir ?
Quand le publicitaire Osborn invente la méthode du «brainstorming» dans les années 50, il la popularise à travers une image forte. Le terme se traduit littéralement par « tempête dans un cerveau ». Le principe que personne n’ose contester est le suivant : les contributions spontanées d’un groupe hétérogène sont autant de stimulation pour mon propre esprit, elles m’amènent à produire d’autres idées, qui à leur tour viendront allumer des étincelles dans les esprits des autres participants. Plus...
Expression et censure
L’originalité de la pensée n’est pas une garantie ni de sagesse, ni de clairvoyance, mais le conformisme n’offre guère plus de garanties sinon celle que rien ne changera. Dans les deux cas, la possibilité de s’exprimer et de critiquer les positions permet d’éviter les dérives, au contraire de la censure. Plus...