FW: American Studies Association - Intellectual Freedom in a Time of War

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: rmoser () aaup org
Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2003 08:32:00 -0500
To: Multiple recipients of list aaup-general <aaup-general () aaup org>
Subject: American Studies Association - Intellectual Freedom in a Time of
War




American Studies Association

March 2003 ASA Newsletter
 
Intellectual Freedom in a Time of War

As teachers and scholars of American culture and history we are deeply
concerned about the storm of attacks on intellectual freedom and the ebb
of open public debate, in the name of patriotism and a war on terror.

Free and frank intellectual inquiry is under assault by overt
legislative acts and by a chilling effect of secrecy and intimidation in
the government, media and on college campuses. This atmosphere hinders
our ability to fulfill our role as educators: to promote public debate,
conduct scholarly research, and most importantly, teach our students to
think freely and critically and to explore diverse perspectives.
Democracy is predicated on the right to question our government and
leaders openly and to express dissent without fear. We are told, in
fact, that our nation is ready to go to war to protect this precious
freedom. The threat of war should not restrict public debate, as it
often has in our nation's past. Vigorous debate and the widest possible
discussion are crucial to the health of our democracy.

We would like to draw attention to the following developments since
September 11, 2001:

*The FBI and INS are asking universities and colleges to monitor and
provide information about students from countries outside the U.S. This
creates a climate of intimidation and suspicion inimical to free
participation and exchange of ideas. Government contracts for scientific
research now specify that international students be excluded from funded
projects. Such conditions discourage international students from
participating in our long tradition of international academic exchange
crucial to the development of U.S. higher education. We applaud those
universities that turn down these contracts and challenge the legality
of FBI collaboration, and we encourage all administrations to follow
suit. Denying equal rights and due process to foreign students creates
an atmosphere of suspicion and fear for all of our students and
drastically limits their intellectual universe

*The justice department's new limits on the Freedom of Information Act
jeopardizes our rights as scholars and citizens to have access to
government information. For scholars seeking to understand our nation's
history, this law has been profoundly important in providing documents
from all branches of government. These documents have shed especially
important light on the history of movements for social change and
American intervention abroad, histories which can better help us
understand our own times. Access to documents also helps citizens make
informed decisions about current policy and keeps government
accountable. The FOIA was intended to reverse what now seems an alarming
trend toward unprecedented government secrecy. It is imperative today
that scholars and journalists in all fields have the widest possible
access to information generated by our own government.


*The USA Patriot Act severely limits our most important tasks as
scholars and teachers. Books and CD-ROMs are being removed from Federal
depository libraries, and web sites are being closed for presumed
terrorist ties. The ability of librarians to do their work is threatened
by federal agencies that demand they turn over patron records. The
rights of library users and book buyers are at risk when federal
agencies can request these records, and our right to privacy-even to our
own thoughts-is at risk when the government can monitor what we read. We
urge the repeal of this act, which threatens to erode the foundation of
intellectual freedom.

*University administrations are under pressure to silence faculty and
researchers who take unpopular political positions. Organizations such
as Campus Watch publish lists of faculty and students critical of US
foreign policy, especially vis-`-vis Israel. They represent a broad
trend among conservative commentators, who call for the censorship of
faculty dissent and equate criticism of the government with being
anti-American and anti-patriotic. We call on colleges and universities
to resist external pressure to curtail academic freedom and to stop
aiding federal agencies in the surveillance of teachers and scholars
with scholarly or familial ties to other countries

History teaches us that we must reflect on who the 'we' of the American
polity is and who the 'enemy' is, especially in a time of war when lives
are at stake at home and abroad. As students of American history and
culture, we hear disturbing echoes of World War I and the McCarthy era,
when the government imprisoned its critics, and institutions of higher
learning dismissed antiwar or "subversive" professors. The presumption
that foreign students and teachers and Americans of Arab, Muslim, and
South Asian descent are either 'terrorists' or 'the enemy' evokes
shameful memories of the deportation of political dissidents during WW
I, and the internment of Americans of Japanese descent during WWII. The
intimidation of political dissidents and those perceived as foreign
threatens the right of free speech for all and debases our American
traditions of civil liberty, tolerance and inclusion.

To avoid repeating that ignominious history, we urge our colleagues,
university administrations and elected representatives to repeal those
policies, laws, and acts of censorship that endanger intellectual
freedom. We affirm our commitment to classrooms where ideas are
exchanged freely; to libraries where scholars can work free from
intimidation for their political beliefs; to laboratories where students
and teachers are free from suspicion because of their ethnic
affiliations; and to campuses open to the widest range of opinions.
Intellectual freedom - the freedom to ask questions, to uncover facts,
to speak independently without fear - is the foundation of our democracy
and remains of critical importance, especially in a time of crisis.


The main office of the American Studies Association (Executive Director,
John Stephens) is located at 1120 19th Street, NW, Suite 301, Washington
DC 20036; Phone (202) 467-4783; Fax (202) 467-4786; Email:
asastaff () theasa net.  American Quarterly, the Guide to American Studies
Resources and the Annual Meeting Program Book are published by the Johns
Hopkins University Press and are archived at Project Muse
 

American Studies Association
http://www.georgetown.edu/crossroads/AmericanStudiesAssn/newsletter/arch
ive/newsarchive/freedom.htm

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