Academic freedom is under attack on the campuses of Florida's colleges and universities, perhaps none more so than the University of Florida. Recently, we sat down with three university faculty to discuss the current attacks, gain an historical perspective and learn what steps all of us can take to fight these attacks on academic freedom. 


Episode 13 Show Notes:



Guests




Show Resources




Transcript



Guests Andrew Gothard, Ph.D., Florida Atlantic UniversityUnited Faculty of Florida, President, FEA/NEA/AFT/AFL-CIOhttps://myuff.org/officers/    UFF News: https://myuff.org/news-coverage/Paul Ortiz, Ph.D., Department of History, University of Florida and Authorhttps://history.ufl.edu/directory/current-faculty/paul-ortiz/Deandre Poole, Ph.D., School of Communication and Multimedia Studies, Florida Atlantic Universityhttps://www.fau.edu/artsandletters/scms/faculty/poole/
Resources HB 233 Intellectual Freedom SurveyFlorida Governor Approves Controversial Bill on Campus ‘Intellectual Freedom’Debate over academic freedom spills into Florida litigation, legislationUF Voting Rights ChallengeUnited Faculty of Florida list of demands to save academic freedomA choice for the University of Florida: Academic freedom or government stooge | EditorialUF task force recommends high bar for blocking faculty from expert testimony against stateAmid free speech concerns, UF declares it is ‘free from undue influence’ Faculty greet the message with skepticism, calling it “superficial.”Book Ban850 Books Texas Lawmaker Matt Krause Wants to BanA Texas lawmaker is targeting 850 books that he says could make students feel uneasyJohns CommitteeHomosexuality and Citizenship in Florida: A Report of the Florida Legislative Investigation Committee, January, 1964Behind Closed Doors: The Dark History of the Johns Committee 
TranscriptAndrew Spar, FEA President: Hi, this is FEA president Andrew Spar. To stay on top of all the latest news and issues impacting our public schools, be sure to follow FEA on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. For more information on this podcast, visit  feaweb.org/podcastSharon Nesvig: You're listening to Educating from the Heart. Thank you for joining our lively conversations with teachers, support professionals, parents, and students, as they share issues that matter most in our public schools. Here are your hosts, Tina Dunbar and Luke Flynt.Tina Dunbar, Host: Hello. I'm Tina Dunbar here with Luke, and welcome to another episode of Educating from the Heart. Hey, Luke, I don't know if you've noticed most of our episodes have focused on issues related to pre-kindergarten to 12th grade education. But this episode is going to focus on higher education, which is a crown jewel for the state of Florida.I don't know if most people realize that our colleges and our universities are consistently ranked among the best in the nation. In fact, US News and World Report recently ranked the University of Florida as a top five public university in the country. Go Gators!Luke Flynt, Host: Go Gators? I don't know, Tina, did you hear about this? A little more than a month after they received the prestigious honor of being ranked the fifth public university in the nation, UF found itself back in the news for a much more concerning reason.News broke that UF was preventing three professors from serving as expert witnesses in a trial on voting rights in Florida. This sparked some very serious concerns about academic and intellectual freedom being under attack.Tina: And that's why you'll hear from our guests today as they tell us this lawsuit debacle is not an isolated incident. Instead, it's a continuation of what many professors and faculty members of the United Faculty of Florida say has been an ongoing attack from state leaders on an essential principl...