Scrutiny of university classrooms is being formalized, with new laws requiring professors to post syllabuses and tip lines for students to complain.
College professors once taught free from political interference, with mostly their students and colleagues privy to their lectures and book assignments. Now, they are being watched by state officials, senior administrators and students themselves.
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And several states, including Texas, Ohio and Florida, have created laws requiring professors to publicly post their course outlines in searchable databases.
The increased oversight of professors comes as conservatives expand their movement to curb what they say is a liberal tilt in university classrooms. In the last couple of years, they have found sympathetic ears in state legislatures with the power to pressure schools, and their efforts have gained momentum as the Trump administration has made overhauling the politics and culture on campuses a focus.
But all of this, some professors and free-expression groups say, is leading to a wave of censorship and self-censorship that they argue is curbing academic freedom and learning.
In addition, the generation of knowledge is inherently a progressive trait. It acknowledges that we don’t have all the answers but with effort we can find them and that we will need to change our world view to accept them.
Conservatism is the resistance to change, putting value in tradition over novel ways of thinking. It is antithetical to knowledge generation.
This means institutions that are designed to generate knowledge will not foster conservative ideals.