Stephen H. Aby – författare

The Academic Bill of Rights was introduced in 2003 after two decades of conservative critiques of higher education and its faculty. Its goal was to generate legislative initiatives to rein in the tenured radicals who were allegedly dominating higher education and infringing on the academic freedom rights of conservative students. At its root, the debate revolves around some core questions: who should teach, and who has the knowledge and training to hire and evaluate faculty; what knowledge should be taught; and most fundamentally, who should make these decisions? Should it be trained faculty, who are specialists in their fields and who were hired to teach and advance knowledge? Or should it be politicians or outsiders, who may be empowered by legislation to interfere in academic decisions? The academic freedom of faculty, and the independence of higher education, depends on the answers to these questions.This book is the first to bring together a variety of critiques of the Academic Bill of Rights. Furthermore, by including some works by David Horowitz and his critics, as well as websites and a bibliography reflecting various points of view, it gives life to the debate, showing some of the give and take of the arguments. This collection also presents the background on the historical context of academic freedom, showing its fragility and therefore the importance of preserving it. Also featured are some core documents (such as the AAUP's 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure) that are central to the debates. Some of the conservative critiques of higher education are identified in the selective annotated bibliography chapter. And, case studies of how the ABOR was contested in three states where it was introduced as legislation are also included. Finally, this book attempts to refocus concerns about higher education on the real issue: its growing domination by corporate values and interests, converting higher education from a public good into an increasingly private commodity.

Over the past twenty years, one of the most bitter debates within the social sciences has centered on Arthur Jensen's contention that American blacks are, on average, less intelligent than whites and that this alleged difference is genetic in origin. Aby's selective, annotated bibliography offers scholars a concise guide to the storm of argument and counterargument over Jensen's suggestion and to the scientific, legal, educational, philosophic, and social issues it has raised.Aby has catalogued and described more than 400 books, book chapters, professional journal articles, newspaper and magazine articles, source documents, media materials, and reference sources relating to the controversy. He begins with an overview of the IQ debate, its history, and the principal participants. He then arranges bibliographic entries in chapters according to the type of source; each entry includes descriptive annotations of up to 300 words. A glossary explains technical terms that are used in the annotations and in the debate itself. This bibliography will be an important addition to collections in education, sociology, and psychology, as well as a resource for courses on educational testing and measurement, racism, sociology of education, and black education.

The freedom of academics to pursue knowledge and truth in their research, writing, and teaching is a fundamental principle of contemporary higher education in the United States. But this freedom has been hard won and regularly abridged, reinterpreted, and violated. Academic freedom has been central to many issues and controversies in higher education and has thus generated literature in a variety of disciplines. This book provides access to that literature.Included are entries for nearly 500 books, chapters, articles, reports, web sites, and other sources of information about academic freedom. Each entry includes a descriptive annotation, and the entries are grouped in topical chapters. While most of the works cited were published since the 1940 American Association of University Professors Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenure, some older studies have also been included. Though the volume focuses primarily on higher education in the U.S., it also includes a chapter on academic freedom in other countries.