In Defense of Academic Freedom

October 12, 2007 Two panels on academic freedom, chaired by Tariq Ali, editor of Verso Books and New Left Review. The growing evidence of outside interference in the hiring process at universities and the recent tenure denials at DePaul University, has prompted leading scholars across the nation to begin to speak out in defense of academic freedom. The DePaul University Academic Freedom Committee, Verso Books, and Diskord Journal sponsored a public symposium held in Rockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago. Session 1 Akeel Bilgrami (Columbia University) Noam Chomsky (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Tony Judt (New York University) John Mearsheimer (University of Chicago). Session 2 Norman Finkelstein (formerly of DePaul University) Neve Gordon (Ben-Guiron University) Mehrene Larudee (DePaul University) and Evan Lorendo (DePaul Academic Freedom Committee). From the Center for International Studies, the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and the International House Global Voices Program.