Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #120360

Shawn M. Kneipp, PhD, ARNP, College of Nursing, University of Florida, PO Box 100187, Gainesville, FL 32610-0187, 352-392-9207, skneipp@nursing.ufl.edu, Mary K. Canales, PhD, Department of Nursing, The University of Vermont, Rowell Building Room 216, Burlington, VT 05405-0068, Nancy L. Fahrenwald, PhD, RN, College of Nursing, South Dakota State University, Box 2275, Brookings, SD 57007, and Janette Taylor, PhD, RN, ARNP, College of Nursing, University of Iowa, 474 Nursing Building, 50 Newton Road, Iowa City, IA 52242-1121.

Since its formal inception in 1915, academic freedom in the U.S. has been posited as a crucial – if not the single most crucial – tenet responsible for the remarkable progress of American universities over the past century. The successful execution of each component comprising the university's tripartite mission – including teaching, research, and service – is wholly dependent upon the academic freedom protections extended to the academic community. In recent years repeated challenges to the interpretation, intent, and scope of academic freedom have been promulgated by a small number of politically conservative groups, with a primary goal of ensuring political ideological parity is represented in the didactic content presented to students across courses, and across disciplines. This assurance is sought regardless of whether the quality of the content is consistent with the scholarly standards of the discipline from which the content is taught, and is antithetical to the concept of academic freedom as defined by the 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom issued by the American Association of University Professors. Restrictions on academic freedom have been introduced for legislative consideration in at least 10 states this year. Nurse academics teaching what could be construed as ‘far left' leaning and biased content have not been publicly called upon to justify these pedagogical practices. However, public health nursing faculty are familiar with the visceral opposition to embracing social justice evoked among nursing students when this core value is emphasized in relation to providing population-based care. Under such circumstances, students may perceive that faculty members are overstepping professorial boundaries and crossing into political terrain that is unrelated to their educational expectations or needs. Understanding academic freedom as it relates to standards within nursing as a discipline is central to thwarting current challenges to self-governance that defines the core values, content, and desired characteristics of those seeking entry into the nursing profession.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of this session, the participant in this session will be able to

• Describe the historical development of academic freedom in the U.S.
• Assess current, widely publicized challenges to academic freedom in the U.S.
• Evaluate the professional imperative of teaching social justice as a core nursing value relative to recent controversy surrounding academic freedom.

Keywords: Social Justice, Professional Development

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.