How does political intervention shape the landscape of higher education?
Today, our guest is Keith Whittington, Ph.D, David Boies Professor of Law at Yale Law School and director of the Center for Academic Freedom. In this episode, host John Tomasi and Keith Whittington discuss the increasingly contentious legislative interventions in higher education, beginning with Florida's "Stop Woke Act." Whittington compares today's interventions to past efforts, discussing implications for academic freedom, First Amendment rights, and university regulation. Whittington shares his experiences and the work of the Academic Freedom Alliance (AFA), emphasizing the importance of defending speech rights in academia. The episode also examines legislative trends, government control in public vs. private education, and challenges arising from modern technology and increased visibility of academic speech. Join us for some insights into the critical intersection of politics, law, and academia, emphasizing the necessity for open discourse and viewpoint diversity on university campuses. About Keith:
Keith E. Whittington, Ph.D, is the David Boies Professor of Law at Yale Law School. Whittington’s teaching and scholarship span American constitutional theory, American political and constitutional history, judicial politics, the presidency, and free speech and the law. He is the author of You Can't Teach That! The Battle Over University Classrooms(2024), Repugnant Laws: Judicial Review of Acts of Congress from the Founding to the Present (2019), and Speak Freely: Why Universities Must Defend Free Speech (2018), as well as Constitutional Interpretation (1999), Political Foundations of Judicial Supremacy (2007), and other works on constitutional theory and law and politics.
Whittington serves as Founding Chair of the Academic Freedom Alliance’s Academic Committee and as a Hoover Institution Visiting Fellow. He has been a John M. Olin Foundation Faculty Fellow, an American Council of Learned Societies Junior Faculty Fellow, a National Center for Free Speech and Civic Engagement Fellow, and a Visiting Scholar at the Social Philosophy and Policy Center. A member of the American Academy of the Arts and Sciences, Whittington served on the Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States.
Your generosity supports our non-partisan efforts to advance the principles of open inquiry, viewpoint diversity, and constructive disagreement to improve higher education and academic research.