Balkinization  

Monday, June 15, 2009

Endangering academic freedom in Canada

Andrew Koppelman

A new low for academic freedom is the reprehensible attempt of Canada’s Minister of Science and Technology, Gary Goodyear (who also evidently doesn’t believe in evolution), to shut down a conference at York University on a one-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. More details here and here. I happen to think a one-state solution is a lousy idea, but that is irrelevant. The conference has put together an impressive group of speakers. It is a serious scholarly undertaking, not propaganda masquerading as scholarship. The core principle of academic freedom is that serious discussions should not be shut down on the basis of mere disagreement with their claims. This is an easy case.

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