Virtual Reading Room: Exploring Academic Freedom and Free Speech

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Freedom of Expression Resources related to Higher Education

A curated selection of significant books, articles, and reports to support dialogue on free expression within the DePauw community.

This curated collection brings together seminal writings, landmark statements, scholarly articles, and contemporary reports on academic freedom, free speech, and freedom of expression, with a particular focus on colleges and universities. It is designed to support informed dialogue within the DePauw University community by providing access to perspectives from leading scholars, national advocacy organizations, and historic declarations.

While not an all-encompassing compilation, this resource offers a broad foundation for exploring the principles, challenges, and lived realities of free expression in academic life, and will be updated periodically to reflect new developments and scholarship.

American Association of University Professors. (1915). Declaration of principles on academic freedom and academic tenure. https://www.aaup.org/NR/rdonlyres/A6520A9D-0A9A-47B3-B550-C006B5B224E7/0/1915Declaration.pdf
American Association of University Professors & Association of American Colleges. (1940/1970). Statement of principles on academic freedom and tenure [With 1970 interpretive comments]. https://www.aaup.org/file/1940%20Statement.pdf
Ahler, D. J., & Sood, G. (2018). The parties in our heads: Misperceptions about party composition and their consequences. The Journal of Politics, 80(3), 964–981. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/697253
American Association of University Professors. (2023). Background readings on academic freedom. https://www.aaup.org/background-readings-academic-freedom
American Association of University Professors. (2023). Special report: Academic freedom, tenure, and shared governance in Florida’s public colleges and universities. https://www.aaup.org/background-readings-academic-freedom
American Association of University Professors. (2025). On freedom of expression and campus speech codes. https://www.aaup.org/reports-publications/aaup-policies-reports/policy-statements/freedom-expression-and-campus-speech
American Council on Education. (2023, June 5). Academic independence under fire. https://www.apa.org/advocacy/education/educators-threats-harassment
Bipartisan Policy Center. (2021). Campus free expression: A new roadmap. https://bipartisanpolicy.org/download/?file=/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/BPC-Report-Campus-Free-Expression_A-New-Roadmap.pdf
Bishop, B. (2009). The big sort: Why the clustering of like-minded America is tearing us apart (pp. 19–57). Mariner Books.
Chemerinsky, E., & Gillman, H. (2017). Free speech on campus. Yale University Press.
Citizens & Scholars. (2024). Academic freedom: Programs and resources. https://www.citizensandscholars.org/
Committee on Freedom of Expression at the University of Chicago. (2015). Report of the Committee on Freedom of Expression. https://freeexpression.uchicago.edu/foundational-principles/
Cox, D., Navarro-Rivera, J., & Jones, R. P. (2016). Race, religion, and political affiliation of Americans’ core social networks. Public Religion Research Institute.
Downs, D. A. (2005). Restoring free speech and liberty on campus. Cambridge University Press.
Finkin, M. W., & Post, R. C. (2019). For the common good: Principles of academic freedom. Yale University Press.
FIRE. (2024, February). Joint Open Letter on Institutional Neutrality (with Heterodox Academy & Academic Freedom Alliance). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundation_for_Individual_Rights_and_Expression
Flaherty, C. (2017, September 19). Is retraction the new rebuttal? Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/09/19/controversy-over-paper-favor-colonialism-sparks-calls-retraction
Fordham Law Review. (2019). Scholars under fire: The targeting of scholars for ideological reasons from 2015 to present, 87(6), 2453–2477. https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol87/iss6/7/
Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. (2021). Scholars under fire: The targeting of scholars for ideological reasons from 2015 to present. https://www.thefire.org/research/publications/miscellaneous-publications/scholars-under-fire/
Gallup, Inc. (2020). The First Amendment on campus 2020 report: College students’ views of free expression. https://knightfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/First-Amendment-on-Campus-2020.pdf
Goldin, C., & Katz, L. F. (1999). The shaping of higher education: The formative years in the United States, 1890 to 1940. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 13(1), 37–62. https://goldin.scholars.harvard.edu/sites/g/files/omnuum5966/files/goldin/files/the_shaping_of_higher_education_the_formative_years_in_the_united_states_1890-1940.pdf
Grafiati Literature Database. (2022). American Association of University Professors. Committee on Academic Freedom. https://www.grafiati.com/en/literature-selections/american-association-of-university-professors-committee-on-academic-freedom
Haidt, J., Reeves, R. V., & Cicirelli, D. (2021). All minus one: John Stuart Mill’s ideas on free speech illustrated (2nd ed.). Heterodox Academy. https://heterodoxacademy.org/library/all-minus-one/
Heclo, H. (2011). On thinking institutionally (pp. 81–128). Oxford University Press.
Hutchens, N. H., & Hephner LaBanc, B. (2025). Talking about free speech on campus: Legal standards and beyond. Journal of College and University Law, 49(2), 227–250. https://www.nacua.org/docs/default-source/jcul-articles/volume49/hutchens-labanc-to-nacua.pdf
Jaschik, S. (2017, February 27). Professors and politics: What the research says. Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2017/02/27/research-confirms-professors-lean-left-questions-assumptions-about-what-means
J. B. Scott. (2022). Free speech and the university: A philosophical inquiry. Routledge.
Kaufmann, E. (2021). Academic freedom in crisis: Punishment, political discrimination, and self-censorship. Center for the Study of Partisanship and Ideology. https://www.cspicenter.com/p/academicfreedom
Knight Foundation & Ipsos. (2024). College student views on free expression and campus speech 2024. https://knightfoundation.org/reports/college-student-views-on-free-expression-and-campus-speech-2024/
Klotz, J. A., & Klassen, J. (2023). Defining and measuring free expression and inclusion on college campuses. Sociological Inquiry, 93(1), 26–51. https://doi.org/10.1111/soin.12403
Landis, K. (Ed.). (2008). Establishing discussion rules. In Start talking: A handbook for engaging difficult dialogues in higher education (pp. 12–17). University of Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Pacific University. https://www.uaa.alaska.edu/academics/office-of-academic-affairs/institutional-effectiveness/index.cshtml
Larson, J., McNeilly, M., & Ryan, T. J. (2020). Free expression and constructive dialogue at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. https://fecdsurveyreport.web.unc.edu/
Lee, P. (2014). The case of Dixon v. Alabama: From civil rights to students' rights and back again. Teachers College Record, 116, 1–18.
Marsden, G. M. (2021). The elusive ideal of academic freedom. In The soul of the American university revisited (pp. 215–240). Oxford University Press.
Mashek, D. (2018, January 9). Syllabus language to support viewpoint diversity. Heterodox Academy. https://heterodoxacademy.org/blog/teaching-heterodoxy-syllabus-language/
Modern Language Association. (2020). Tool kit on academic freedom. https://www.mla.org/tool_kit_on_academic
Moskowitz, P. E. (2019, August 20). Everything you think you know about ‘free speech’ is a lie. The Nation. https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/portland-speech-milo-antifa-koch/
Moskowitz, P. E. (2019). The case against free speech: The First Amendment, fascism, and the future of dissent. Bold Type Books.
Norris, P. (2021). Cancel culture: Myth or reality? Political Studies. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00323217211037023
PEN America. (2019, September 25). Tips for nurturing a climate of free expression and inclusion. https://campusfreespeechguide.pen.org/resource/tips-for-nurturing-a-climate-of-free-expression-and-inclusion/
PEN America. (2021, August 17). Campus free speech guide. https://pen.org/campus-free-speech-guide/
PEN America. (2023). Freedom to write index 2023. https://pen.org/report/freedom-to-write-index-2023
PEN America. (2023). America’s censored classrooms 2023. https://pen.org/report/americas-censored-classrooms-2023
PEN America. (2023). Speech in the machine: Generative AI and free expression. https://pen.org/report/speech-in-the-machine
PEN America. (2024). Free Expression Advocacy Institutes: Train the next generation. https://pen.org/pen-america-free-expression-advocacy-institutes-train-the-next-generation/
PEN America. (2025). Censorship in higher education: A PEN America perspective. In D. Drezner (Ed.), Changing Higher Ed (Podcast episode). https://changinghighered.com/censorship-in-higher-education-a-pen-america-perspective/
Pettit, E. (2020, March 24). A side effect of remote teaching during Covid-19? Videos that can be weaponized. The Chronicle of Higher Education. https://www.chronicle.com/article/a-side-effect-of-remote-teaching-during-covid-19-videos-that-can-be-weaponized/
Pozen Center for Human Rights. (2023). Academic freedom resources: Principles for implementing the right to academic freedom. University of Chicago. https://humanrights.uchicago.edu/news/news/academic-freedom-resources
Rabban, D. (2024). Academic freedom: From professional norm to free speech. Harvard University Press.
Reichman, H. (2025). Understanding academic freedom (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press.
Scholars at Risk. (2023). Academic Freedom Media Review Archive 2023. https://www.scholarsatrisk.org/academic-freedom-media-review-archive-2023/
Scott, J. B. (2022). Free speech and the university: A philosophical inquiry. Routledge.
Strossen, N. (2018). Hate: Why we should resist it with free speech, not censorship. Oxford University Press.
Twenge, J. M., Spitzberg, B. H., & Campbell, W. K. (2019). Less in-person social interaction with peers among U.S. adolescents in the 21st century and links to loneliness. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 36(6), 1892–1913. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0265407519836170
Twenge, J. M. (2017). iGen: Why today’s super-connected kids are growing up less rebellious, more tolerant, less happy—and completely unprepared for adulthood (ch. 6, pp. 143–177). Atria.
Twenge, J. M., Haidt, J., Blake, A. B., McAllister, C., Lemon, H., & Le Roy, A. (2021). Worldwide increases in adolescent loneliness. Journal of Adolescence. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2021.06.006
University of Chicago. (1967). Report on the University's role in political and social action (The Kalven Report). https://provost.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/documents/reports/KalvenRprt_0.pdf
University of Chicago. (2024). Academic freedom in focus. The University of Chicago Magazine. https://mag.uchicago.edu/university-news/academic-freedom-focus
Yale College. (1974). Report of the Committee on Freedom of Expression at Yale. https://yalecollege.yale.edu/get-know-yale-college/office-dean/reports/report-committee-freedom-expression-yale