Support the Academics for Academic Freedom Campaign
Aaron Sloman

A partial index of discussion notes is in http://www.cs.bham.ac.uk/research/projects/cogaff/misc/AREADME.html

Background

I have just discovered (December 2006) a BBC report on Academics for Academic Freedom (AFAF) whose web site is http://www.afaf.org.uk/.

Go there and sign the statement. (If it still exists.)

'We, the undersigned, believe the following two principles to be the foundation of academic freedom:

(1) that academics, both inside and outside the classroom, have unrestricted liberty to question and test received wisdom and to put forward controversial and unpopular opinions, whether or not these are deemed offensive, and

(2) that academic institutions have no right to curb the exercise of this freedom by members of their staff, or to use it as grounds for disciplinary action or dismissal.'

I am assuming that this is not intended to endorse gratuitous, spiteful, or personal offensiveness and refers to opinions, theories, recommendations, evidence, arguments that are put forward for reasons other than that they offend someone.

• IN DEFENCE OF A VARIETY OF ELITISM
  Arguing that there is good elitism and bad elitism, and defending the former.

• 'POLITICAL CORRECTNESS' AND THE NEED TO CRITICISE RELIGION.

• NOTES ON ACADEMIC FREEDOM, INCLUDING THE FREEDOM TO BE DISLOYAL.

• WHY ATHEIST SCIENTISTS SHOULD TEACH INTELLIGENT DESIGN ALONGSIDE THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION

• WHY ASIMOV'S THREE LAWS OF ROBOTICS ARE UNETHICAL

• WHY TREATING COMPUTING EDUCATION AS TRAINING FOR JOBS FAILS OUR CHILDREN

• CRITICISING MY UNIVERSITY'S RE-BRANDING EXERCISE

• WHY MUCH RESEARCH SHOULD BE FUNDED BY A LOTTERY MECHANISM

• WHY ACADEMICS SHOULD RESIST PUBLISHERS

• WHY LARGE MONOLITHIC GOVERNMENT IT PROJECTS (LIKE THE UK NHS IT PROJECT) ARE DOOMED TO FAIL.

• VARIOUS MESSAGES FOR POLITICIANS AND MANAGERS

Maintained by Aaron Sloman
School of Computer Science
The University of Birmingham