WINNING YOUNG HEARTS AND MINDS: THE BATTLE FOR ACADEMIC FREEDOM

The Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill will place new duties on universities to promote free expression of ideas, beliefs and views. But on the basis of anxieties over student welfare, is the government itself encouraging academics and university administrators to decide that ‘harm’ to students justifies censoring what can be read? And what of cultural attitudes among students themselves? A recent survey from the Higher Education Policy Institute found that 86 per cent support trigger warnings and 62 per cent back safe spaces. The survey also showed over a third of students think academics should be fired if they ‘teach material that heavily offends some students’ – double the proportion reported in 2016. Are official actions and political declarations enough to tackle this seemingly engrained censoriousness amongst the young?

Filmed at the Battle of Ideas Festival by WORLDwrite volunteers, an exceptional panel of speakers share their thoughts.
The speakers are:
Anna Keenan - History of art and English literature student, University of Glasgow; writer, The New Taboo

Rod Liddle-Columnist, The Sunday Times, the Sun and the Spectator; author, The Great Betrayal; associate editor, Spectator; former editor, BBC Radio 4 Today programme

Rob Lownie-Editorial trainee, UnHerd; founding member, Free Speech Champions; contributor, Free Speech: defending the fundamental liberal value

Dr James Orr-Assistant professor of philosophy of religion, University of Cambridge

Professor Alice Sullivan-Professor of sociology, UCL Social Research Institute

The Chair is Dennis Hayes-Professor of education, University of Derby; founder and director, Academics For Academic Freedom (AFAF); author, The Death of Academic Freedom? Free speech and censorship

There were countless sound problems with this video due to AV problems at the venue beyond our control-volunteers have done what they can to clean it up. We hope it is still watchable.

[honestjohn]

Great discussion of the problem such a shame the sound is in and out

[duncanweller]

Look no further than your visual arts department to realize what's going on. Because of modernist ideology you don't need a shred of talent to be an artist or a professor teaching art. You just need an argument. Making everything subjective to one's personal opinion gets you into the club of artists, can get you a job as a professor, or as an art critic, historian, curator, etc. The art world is ruled by people who have no talent in the very thing they pretend to be defending. The "woke" ideology is intended to give power, money, and jobs to people who are too dumb to be professors - who really don't have enough talent for the job that should be done by someone with more talent and better credentials who has a real interest in serving the public good.