Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Unusual Ruling for Academic Freedom

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Unusual Ruling for Academic Freedom

    http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/03/31/judge_rejects_suit_against_u_of_minnesota_over_web site_on_genocide

    Inside Higher Ed

    Unusual Ruling for Academic Freedom

    March 31, 2011

    A federal judge on Wednesday rejected a lawsuit against the University
    of Minnesota over the website of one of its centers -- and the right of
    that center to deem another website "unreliable."

    At one level the suit focused on history and the dispute over why so
    many Armenians were killed during World War I. But more broadly, the
    case involved two competing claims of academic freedom.

    The website of Minnesota's Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies
    makes clear that its faculty members believe (consistent with the
    consensus view of historians) that what happened to the Armenians was a
    genocide. Many Turkish groups disagree, and the suit was sparked by the
    university's labeling of the information on the Turkish Coalition of
    America's website as "unreliable." The group sued, arguing that the
    label amounted to an unfair endorsement by the university of a specific
    position -- and that doing so discouraged students and faculty members
    from asserting other points of view, in violation of the principles of
    academic freedom.

    Judge Donovan W. Frank found that academic freedom issues were central
    to the case -- but he sided with the University of Minnesota, which
    argued that its faculty members had the right to express their views on
    the genocide center's website -- including views criticizing websites
    that argue against the certainty of an Armenian genocide.

    "The court concludes that this case is properly viewed in the context of
    academic freedom and that defendants' statements are protected by that
    freedom," Judge Frank wrote. "The CHGS [the genocide studies center] is
    free to indicate to students that it thinks certain websites are not
    proper sources for scholarly research. The ability of the university and
    its faculty to determine the reliability of sources available to
    students to use in their research falls squarely within the university's
    freedom to determine how particular coursework shall be taught. The CHGS
    also acknowledges their viewpoint that the killing of Ottoman Armenians
    during World War I was genocide. This viewpoint, as well, is within the
    purview of the university's academic freedom to comment on and critique
    academic views held and expressed by others."

    Mark B. Rotenberg, general counsel for Minnesota, said that the ruling
    was unusual in that it was decided strictly on the issue of academic
    freedom. Many federal court rulings, he noted, refer to academic freedom
    but are based in the end on the First Amendment, due process or other
    legal rights.

    "We see this as a highly significant federal decision involving academic
    freedom, since there are so few cases that are decided squarely on the
    principle of academic freedom," he said.

    Rotenberg said that, had the Turkish Coalition of America been
    successful, the ramifications could have extended well beyond Minnesota
    or scholars of the Armenian genocide. Any time that faculty members or a
    research center shared views that others might contest, a university
    could have been at risk of being sued, he said. Instead, a federal judge
    has affirmed that "faculties don't have to be completely neutral in
    expressing their views of others' scholarly writing, and that they can
    have a perspective that advocates one academic perspective over
    another.... This is a very important vindication for academic freedom."

    Bruce Fein, one of the lawyers for the Turkish Coalition of America,
    said that the group was still studying the decision and had not decided
    whether to appeal. Fein said that the judge "did not address the
    substance of our arguments" and seemed to accept the University of
    Minnesota's claims about its views of academic freedom. Fein said that,
    in his view, "academic freedom was a pretense in trying to indoctrinate
    rather than educate." He said that, in the name of academic freedom, the
    university was trying "to impose an orthodoxy."

    The university and its defenders have responded by saying that Minnesota
    has never banned anyone from doing research or expressing ideas such as
    those of the Turkish Coalition with regard to what happened to the
    Armenians. But that does not mean, Minnesota has argued, that its
    faculty members and research centers can't express a view on the issue.

    Several scholarly associations -- the International Association of
    Genocide Scholars, the Middle East Studies Association and the Society
    for Armenian Studies -- opposed the suit.

    In a public letter to the coalition, the Middle East studies group said:
    "Your organization, and those who hold perspectives different from those
    expressed by scholars associated with the Center, certainly have the
    right to participate in open scholarly exchange on the history of the
    Armenians in the late Ottoman Empire or any other issue, by presenting
    their views at academic conferences, in the pages of peer-reviewed
    scholarly journals or by other means, thereby opening them up to debate
    and challenge. We are distressed that you instead chose to take legal
    action against the University of Minnesota and its Center for Holocaust
    and Genocide Studies, apparently for having at one point characterized
    views expressed on your website in a certain way. We fear that legal
    action of this kind may have a chilling effect on the ability of
    scholars and academic institutions to carry out their work freely and to
    have their work assessed on its merits, in conformity with standards and
    procedures long established in the world of scholarship. Your lawsuit
    may thus serve to stifle the free expression of ideas among scholars and
    academic institutions regarding the history of Armenians in the later
    Ottoman Empire, and thereby undermine the principles of academic
    freedom."

    - Scott Jaschik




    From: A. Papazian
Working...
X