Comments on: Is vetting at Nottingham really a defence of academic freedom?

By: In Terrorem, University of Nottingham Branch « The Disorder Of Things

In Terrorem, University of Nottingham Branch « The Disorder Of Things — Mon, 09 May 2011 18:11:45 +0000

[...] to be made of actual people (the leaked details of Thornton’s paper seem very mild indeed). The general approach to ‘vetting’ documentation certainly seems rather damning, especially considering that those doing the authorising of teaching [...]

By: U. of Nottingham Sparks Academic Freedom Concerns With Suspension of Lecturer - The Global Ticker - The Chronicle of Higher Education

Thu, 05 May 2011 03:10:37 +0000

[...] he taught “had anything to do with the student who had been arrested,” the lecturer wrote in an online piece published in 2009 questioning why reading lists for modules at Nottingham’s School of Politics [...]

By: Policing Academic Freedom « An und für sich

Policing Academic Freedom « An und für sich — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:49:36 +0000

[...] only to members of staff. Rod Thornton replies to this defense of the new policy in detail in a remarkably clear sighted article that is worth reading in its entirety, particularly for his account of his experience of the [...]

By: critic

critic — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 09:37:49 +0000

Actually, there are surely cases where it would also be necessary to stand up to national laws and refuse to implement or comply – otherwise academics would have to for instance, hand over dissidents in countries like Iran, or Jews in Nazi Germany, etc. It’s quite conceivable that the government will eventually make vetting a legal responsibility and it would not become any more acceptable as a result. It is absurd to view the law as an outer limit to human rights. Rather, human rights are necessarily an outer limit to the law – the moment it overreaches, it loses any legitimate claim to obedience.