34th Annual Davis, Markert, Nickerson Lecture on Academic and Intellectual Freedom

The annual Davis, Markert, Nickerson Lecture on Academic and Intellectual Freedom is named for three U-M faculty members—Chandler Davis, Clement Markert, and Mark Nickerson—who in 1954 were called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee. All invoked constitutional rights and refused to answer questions about their political associations. The three were suspended from the University with subsequent hearings and committee actions resulting in the reinstatement of Markert, an assistant professor who eventually gained tenure, and the dismissal of Davis, an instructor, and Nickerson, a tenured associate professor.

Academic Freedom in a Time of Destruction: Reconsidering Extra-Mural Speech

 

Judith Butler

Distinguished Professor in the Graduate School, University of California, Berkeley

 

November 14, 2024

4:00-5:30 P.M.

100 Hutchins Hall

For in-person attendance, please register below

 

Virtual Attendance Information

Livestream Link

Virtual Attendee Question Submission Form: https://forms.gle/ez4oDjvH1Du5PjP99

*An ASL interpreter will be at the event, and a CART specialist will transcribe the livestream of this event

Photo by Cayce Clifford

Lecture Abstract

Academic freedom includes protections for faculty against reprisal for “extra-mural speech,” but how do we decide what kind of speech is “extra-mural”? Some scholars argue that any protections afforded extramural speech by institutions of higher education are already covered by constitutional rights of free speech. But is there really no distinction? This lecture will consider how we conceive of extra-mural speech, and how the distinction between intra- and extra-mural has become increasingly difficult to draw. Considering the figure of the “wall” that separates the academy from public life, a number of challenges emerge: is the academy meant to serve public debate and, if so, in what way? Is the classroom supposed to be “neutral” on questions of shared public concern? Does academic freedom belong only to faculty, or does it presuppose open debate on campus that includes students and staff? Finally, what does academic freedom in its many senses presume about the enduring character of universities? If universities are defunded, privatized, or destroyed in war, have the necessary conditions of academic freedom also been destroyed. Or is there, as is argued in this lecture, an extra-institutional right to education that makes itself known in the midst of destruction times.

Additional Events

Alongside the DMN Lecture, two supplemental events will be held alongside this event, including: