Academic Freedom and Freedom of Expression Working Group
The Academic Freedom and Freedom of Expression Working Group was established by the University in 2023 to consider how we can best support these principles across our staff and student community.
The Working Group ensures that we are considering the most up-to-date thinking in this area, and that we are supporting our staff and students to exercise their right to academic freedom or freedom of expression lawfully within a culture of mutual respect.
The group’s aims are:
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For a broad cross-section of the university community to re-affirm academic freedom and freedom of expression as a key democratic value and privilege of all academics.
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To help our students develop the knowledge and skills to exercise leadership and participation in society’s contested spaces.
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To ensure a legislatively up-to-date, transparent and supportive set of policies and procedures that facilitate academic freedom and freedom of expression while fostering a respectful and inclusive environment.
These aims agreed by the University Executive will evolve as the Working Group continues to engage and understand the perspectives of our diverse University community.
The Working Group does not engage in decisions relating to specific events or debates on campus, nor in managing concerns or complaints regarding these.
In 2023, the Working Group made good progress in four workstreams considering policy, engagement and culture, communications, and education, respectively. A summary of that progress can be found below.
In 2024, the Working Group is being refreshed to include a focus on newly identified priorities:
- to better assert the importance of research;
- to broaden the understanding of academic freedom and freedom of expression within our community as positive and essentially democratic values;
- to address the intersection between academic freedom, freedom of expression, and equality, diversity and inclusion.
The Group is also being restructured to build capacity and expertise to deliver its renewed remit. Four Workstreams and two ‘Task and Finish groups’ will take forward the new priorities as agreed by the University Executive.
To support delivery of this refreshed remit, University Executive has agreed that Professor David Smith will become the new Convenor of the revised Working Group. David, who was previously Deputy Convenor of the Working Group, has been tasked with championing freedom of expression and academic freedom within the University, reporting on progress to the Provost, Professor Kim Graham, and University Executive.
Workstreams
Four new workstreams are being established, replacing those already in existence, to bring together staff across the University to collaboratively consider a number of guiding questions. Below you can find out more about the focus of each workstream, including the scope and remit that workstream members will help to collectively refine.
Legislation Workstream: What does the University need to do to ensure it meets its legislative requirements in respect of freedom of expression and academic freedom?
Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Workstream: How can our University community celebrate its intellectual diversity, affirming the democratic principles of freedom of expression and academic freedom, while fostering a respectful and inclusive environment?
Challenges Workstream: How can the University proactively address contemporary and future challenges to freedom of expression and academic freedom?
Curriculum and Education (Learning and Teaching) Workstream: How can educators support students to become highly skilled in participating as citizens in society’s contested spaces?
Task and Finish Groups
Two new ‘Task and Finish’ groups are also being created to carry out research within our community to consider the following:
Pastoral Support Task and Finish Group: How can the University effectively and consistently support and protect colleagues who encounter unwanted publicity, who are attacked, or who experience distress, due to their exercising of academic freedom and freedom of expression or due to somebody else’s exercising of these rights?
Research Task and Finish Group: What does our large and diverse University community understand about academic freedom and freedom of expression? How does our University community experience these rights?
To deliver our renewed priorities, we are expanding the membership of the Working Group. We are seeking around 40 staff from across the University to populate the new Workstreams and Task and Finish groups. We are keen to receive expressions of interest from any University staff who may wish to contribute to this work.
Get in touch with the Working Group by emailing acfreedom.workinggroup@ed.ac.uk