Academe brings faculty the latest news and thought-provoking commentary

The January-February issue of Academe examines the myriad challenges to academic freedom and the continuing complex issue of equity for women faculty.
 
Academic freedom and the corporate university.  Jennifer Washburn, an independent researcher and author of the critically acclaimed University, Inc.: The Corporate Corruption of Higher Education, looks at how the academic community has responded—and more frequently not responded—to commercial threats to academic research integrity. The AAUP, Washburn argues, can and should be doing more to protect transparent research dedicated to the public good.
 
Academic freedom and human rights. Andrew Ross, a professor at New York University and a member of the AAUP’s Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure, looks at what his own university is doing—and not doing—to protect workers’ rights, along with faculty and student rights, at its Abu Dhabi campus. The rush to create universities abroad, especially in countries with authoritarian governments, he argues, can come at a high cost: from exploitation of migrant labor to uncertain protection of free speech and basic rights.
 
Academic freedom and Garcetti. Joan DelFattore, professor of English and legal studies at the University of Delaware, writes about how faculty can protect themselves against the ramifications of the 2006 Supreme Court decision Garcetti vs. Ceballos.  That decision determined that the government can restrict the speech of public employees when they comment on issues related to their “official duties.”
 
This issue of Academe also offers a constellation of nuanced articles on gender and the academy. Sociologists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst look at ”The Ivory Ceiling of Service Work,” showing that women associate professors simply spend more time on service than their male counterparts and are promoted more slowly. Renata Kobetts Miller, one of those associate professors, argues that it’s nonetheless critical that women professors devote substantial time to the well-being of their departments. And Lisa M. Tillmann of Rollins College offers an intimate portrait of the choices she made when she became an academic.
 
Finally, the issue includes an article of great practical importance from financial law experts: "How to Publish without Financially Perishing.” Yes, you can get sued. And no, your university will not help you defend yourself. Caveat scriptor.