Academic Freedom

Efforts are under way to determine the scope of this focus area in 2007. At this time, the Open Society Institute is interested in two broad clusters of threats to academic freedom:

those posed by conservatives who wish to regulate university hiring policies and pedagogy on the basis of political criteria; and
those posed by the increasing commercialization of the academy.

Thus far, OSI has made the following grants pertaining to threats to academic freedom from the political right.

In the spring of 2006, leading faculty, student, and civil liberties organizations launched the Free Exchange on Campus coalition as a joint effort to counter David Horowitz and other conservative activists' ideological assault on higher education. Free Exchange, which is made up of a number of OSI grantees and others, has begun to organize students and faculty in key states and to roll out a public communications strategy. With OSI support, Free Exchange has been able to hire dedicated coalition staff and organizers.
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences is an honorary membership society and independent research organization whose Committee on Higher Education initiated a project, "Intellectual Diversity and Academic Freedom." Through this project, the Academy will produce a statement of principles clarifying that political criteria cannot be used to evaluate university faculty for purposes such as hiring or tenure. Once the statement has been reviewed and a final draft prepared, the Academy will work with the nation�s leading academic organizations, professional associations, and learned societies to promote its adoption.

For Futher Information

While the Strategic Opportunities Fund does not accept unsolicited proposals, there is one remaining cycle in 2007 in which the fund will consider letters of inquiry. Please refer to the Academic Freedom grant guidelines. OSI encourages prospective applicants to read about the work of current grantees and to consider collaborative opportunities.