Title: Unlearning liberty : campus censorship and the end of American debate /
Authors: Lukianoff, Greg
Publisher: Encounter Books,
Year: 2012
Subjects: Academic freedom United States.; Teaching, Freedom of United States.; Freedom of speech United States; College students Civil rights United States.; Universities and colleges Law and legislation United States.; Education, Higher Moral and ethical aspects United States; Academic freedom; College students Civil rights; Education, Higher Moral and ethical aspects; Freedom of speech; Teaching, Freedom of; Universities and colleges Law and legislation; United States
Abstract: Overview: For over a generation, shocking cases of censorship at America's colleges and universities have taught students the wrong lessons about living in a free society. Drawing on a decade of experience battling for freedom of speech on campus, First Amendment lawyer Greg Lukianoff reveals how higher education fails to teach students to become critical thinkers: by stifling open debate, our campuses are supercharging ideological divisions, promoting groupthink, and encouraging an unscholarly certainty about complex issues. Lukianoff walks readers through the life of a modern-day college student, from orientation to the end of freshman year. Through this lens, he describes startling violations of free speech rights: a student in Indiana punished for publicly reading a book, a student in Georgia expelled for a pro-environment collage he posted on Facebook, students at Yale banned from putting an F Scott Fitzgerald quote on a T shirt, and students across the country corralled into tiny "free speech zones" when they wanted to express their views. But Lukianoff goes further, demonstrating how this culture of censorship is bleeding into the larger society. As he explores public controversies involving Juan Williams, Rush Limbaugh, Bill Maher, Richard Dawkins, Larry Summers-even Dave Barry and Jon Stewart-Lukianoff paints a stark picture of our ability as a nation to discuss important issues rationally. Unlearning Liberty: Campus Censorship and the End of American Debate illuminates how intolerance for dissent and debate on today's campus threatens the freedom of every citizen and makes us all just a little bit dumber.
Contents: Introduction: Dangerous Collage: -- Campus censorship: alive and thriving -- How campus censor-ship harms us all -- Beginning our journey through the modern college experience -- Learning All The Wrong Lessons In High School: -- High schools and unlearning liberty -- Seriously, why is free speech important again? -- Legal landscape -- Beyond the law: the grand philosophy behind free speech -- Polarization, and the special importance of free speech in the internet age -- JS Mill and a warning to colleges -- How the road to censorship is always paved with good intentions -- Acceptance of censorship by college students -- Personal aside: how multiculturalism demands free speech -- What high school students (and parents) need to know before they go to college -- Opening The College Brochure: -- PC went to war with free speech in the 1990s, and free speech lost -- Hidden speech codes, everywhere -- What harassment is supposed to mean --