Caitlin Monaghan
Research Poster
Category Archives: Literacy and Education
Culture and Perspective Poster
Culture in education which shapes a nation’s image.
Protecting Free Speech on College Campuses Helps Students
Caitlin Monaghan
April 20, 2022
The state of free speech and academic freedom on college campuses has become a fiercely debated and extremely divisive topic, especially in recent years. The debate mainly arises from some universities banning certain kinds of speech, mainly described as hate speech. The issue has divided students, professors, administrators, and lawmakers alike, leading to many heated arguments and sometimes violence both on and off-campus. Some people argue that banning certain kinds of speech is justified due to their potential to cause psychological harm to vulnerable groups and/or lead others to harass them. Others believe that it denies students and professors the ability to freely express their opinions and gain exposure to diverse viewpoints. Limits or lack thereof on free speech on campuses have the potential not only to impact the safety of students belonging to marginalized groups but also to improve or impair students’ learning and development. I argue that limiting free speech is ineffective and that universities need to protect students’ right to free speech in order to provide them with necessary skills and ultimately create citizens that can effectively participate in our democracy and work to solve our country’s biggest problems.
Before discussing freedom of speech and its impacts, it is important to first define academic freedom and its significance in maintaining a productive college environment. Academic freedom, according to Inside Higher Ed, means that faculty members and students have the right to express their views, “can engage in intellectual debate without fear of censorship or retaliation”, and are protected from punishment for disagreeing with the policies of college administrators (Nelson). Thus, the ability to speak freely is a part of academic freedom. It is important to clarify that academic freedom does not protect professors or students that harass or threaten one another or prevent their ideas or practices from being challenged. Limiting free speech inevitably also limits academic freedom which in turn discourages the free exchange of ideas and viewpoints and discourages the expression of certain, usually controversial, ideas. It can sometimes even lead to students and professors being penalized, officially and unofficially, for disagreeing with the majority of the student body or administrators. An example of this occurred at Yale University in 2015 after the university’s administrators sent out an email instructing students not to wear culturally insensitive costumes on Halloween. In response, Erika Christakis, a professor presiding over one of the undergraduate colleges with her husband, voiced her agreement with the goal of avoiding offense but questioned whether it was reasonable for administrators to tell students how to dress themselves. This caused outrage among the student body and eventually led to Christakis and her husband stepping down (Friedersdorf).
The most common restriction of free speech on campus is the banning of what is usually described as hate speech and while it is true that hate speech can and does harm, limitations on free speech – even when they can be justified – are risky. The definition of hate speech varies from source to source, but the most common is “speech expressing hatred of a particular group of people” according to Merriam-Webster. Many have argued that restrictions on this kind of speech are necessary to avoid harming the mental well-being of students, specifically marginalized students (Hatfield, et al). According to an article from the Atlantic Journal of Communication about hate speech on college campuses, “words can and do harm… in painfully real ways; hate speech silences the members of oppressed groups and denies them their rightful standing in society” (Hatfield, et al). While this is true, universities frequently provide very loose, unclear, and overly broad guidelines with no concrete answers as to what can and cannot be said, leaving many things in a sort of grey area. This can lead to people being punished for saying things that are not in fact hate speech and people self-censoring out of fear of accidentally saying something that may fall into the area of speech that is banned (Franco and Warburton). Creating bans on loosely defined hate speech does nothing to actually address the issues of intolerance and discrimination on campuses.
Along with infringing on the rights of students and faculty and oftentimes being ineffective, restricting free speech also restricts important conversations that have the potential to help solve societal issues and expand students’ minds. Instead of discouraging students from having discussions about difficult and sensitive topics to avoid discomfort, universities need to foster these discussions. As stated in an article from the Indianapolis Business Journal, colleges need to “invite vigorous debate on how we [can] solve some of society’s most challenging problems” (Feltman). While universities are typically trying to ban or discourage certain kinds of speech to make students feel safer, these good intentions can instead end up preventing students from talking about new ways to help as shown in the example of Erica Christakis I previously mentioned. There, the students were denied the opportunity to discuss offensive Halloween costumes when the administrators of Yale instead decided to avoid that conversation by telling students what they cannot wear and when Christakis was forced to step down after trying to start a discussion. Colleges are an ideal place to encourage young people to start finding solutions to problems instead of teaching them to mask those problems.
Limiting free speech is not an effective solution to bias-related issues, but universities can take other actions to help such as better educating students about responsibly using their freedom of speech. According to an article from the Educational Philosophy and Theory, “universities are educational institutions and therefore not only responsible for protecting the legal rights and dignity of students, but also educating them about responsible use of freedom of speech in the public sphere” (Leiviskä). Colleges are responsible for protecting students’ legal rights and discouraging unfair treatment of marginalized students at a minimum, but they should also put further focus on educating students about how to use their freedom of speech in a useful and productive manner. Their job is not to force students into compliance, but rather to teach them how to do things like have difficult conversations, disagree with others respectfully, and work to confront society’s biggest problems instead of avoiding them with limitations on speech. Universities have long pledged themselves to the pursuit of truth and knowledge, but by limiting free speech, they are instead demonstrating that they are more concerned with their public image and avoiding controversy. The only way to meaningfully address issues such as racism, sexism, homophobia, and any other form of bias and discrimination is by confronting them.
Overall, universities have a responsibility to uphold academic and democratic values, not only for the sake of their students but also for the world that their students will be entering after graduation. A college is a place for students to learn to think critically about the world around them and to challenge their existing perceptions and beliefs. While issues of discrimination on college campuses are real and need to be addressed, censorship is not an ethical, legal, or sustainable solution. Protecting free speech improves the quality of education this country’s college students receive and produces citizens who are better prepared to participate in our democracy and to fix issues facing us and the world, which is why we need to do everything in our power to help to protect it.
Nelson, Cary. “Defining Academic Freedom.” Inside Higher Ed, https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2010/12/21/defining-academic-freedom.
Friedersdorf, Conor. “The New Intolerance of Student Activism.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 14 Nov. 2015, https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/11/the-new-intolerance-of-student-activism-at-yale/414810/.
“Hate Speech Definition & Meaning.” Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hate%20speech.
Hatfield, Katherine L., Kellie Schafer, and Kristopher A. Stroup. “A Dialogic Approach to
Combating Hate Speech on College Campuses.” Atlantic Journal of Communication, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/s15456889ajc1301_3.
Franco, Joshua, and Nigel Warburton. “Should There Be Limits on Hate Speech?” SAGE Journals, 1 July 2013, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0306422013495621.
Feltman, Nate. “Defend Free Speech on College Campuses.” Indianapolis Business Journal, https://www.ibj.com/articles/defend-free-speech-on-college-campuses.
Leiviskä, Anniina. “A Discourse Theoretical Model for Determining the Limits of Free Speech
on Campus.” Educational Philosophy and Theory, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00131857.2020.1814256.
The influence of culture and religion in education on global connections
Ellery Ekblad
April 19th, 2022
Many countries around the world integrate their culture and religion into their education, diversifying perspectives and influencing the way in which multiple communities tend to interact with one another. Many connections between European and Asian countries can be seen in economic affairs and scientific co-authorship. This is due to the perspective and image developed in the countries that reflect future relations with one another. This perspective can be built by the construction of religious schools as well as historical influence on curriculum. A healthy integration of religion and culture into a nation’s educational system shapes their perspective and reflects their image onto other countries, influencing the connections and disputes between them.
It is common for multiple countries to reflect their culture and religion through the curriculum of their education. In a study conducted by the scholar Steven Svallfors, in Switzerland, cantonal schools prove that “religious education” was highly prominent and responsible for “vocational and professional education and training” (Svallfors, 8). The integration of the Catholic and Protestant religions in Swiss Cantonal schools also preserve the cultural integrity of the community targeting the perspective of children who will carry those core values into adulthood. Since Cantonal and specialized religious schools are independently run, they have the freedom to oversee their core curriculum not only supporting historical and religious teachings but also altering languages taught, varying the length of the school day, and accepting different ages for admittance. The separation of these schools not only provides opportunities to increase students’ qualifications in the labor market but also focuses each student on their intended profession. Not only is the influence of similar religions in education common in surrounding nations, but countries have also had the ability to alter surrounding nations’ curriculum through global connections.
One major nation that has had their education culturally influenced by neighboring countries is China. The country began to integrate multiple languages into its curriculum in order to better prepare its students for multiple professions of trade for which China is globally known. According to the Scholar Wang Wengfeng, the Chinese curriculum consisted of the “integration of socio-culture and cognitive dimensions of language learning” (Wengfeng, 5). There is an integration of foreighn languages into the curriculum of education in China to better prepare its students for the country’s prominent market within global connections. But while this influence of language is prominent and effective there were also cases in which the curriculum “came into conflict with some western-generated teaching methods” (Wengfeng, 5). This influence of westernized languages placed on the curriculum in Asian schools is for the benefit of its students later on occupational-wise. However, it is also understood there is some conflict that comes with the integration of this language, leading scholars to believe this reflects the perspective of Asian cultures on the image of westernized nations when dealing with foreign political affairs and economic trade. This can be recognized in the various disputes and benefits of varying nations globally studied.
In a study made by the Destatis Bundesamt in 2022, the German and Chinese exchange was heavily prominent stating that “nearly one-third of European goods shipped to Asia from Germany (202 billion dollars) with China as its largest customer” (Neves, 5,8,19). It was understood that Germany and China had similar goals in creating a “2030 agenda for sustainable development” and initiating a “co-authorship of scientific publications” (Neves, 5,8,19). The European and Asian countries share common goals in economic and political affairs due to learned perspectives created for those individual nations. As part of their image, it was widely known that European nations like Germany and Switzerland have taken massive strides into revolutionizing both their technologies and environmental sustainability (reducing carbon footprint) because wider job varieties and opportunities have been highlighted in their curriculum. Similarly, Asian countries desire advancements in technology production-wise while placing sufficient policy markers on the production of greenhouse gasses, due to the fact that education has taught its members that trade and global communication is vital to the economic prosperity of the country but has developed problems in the environment. The multiple collaborations between European and Asian nations makes them both beneficiaries of one another. European nations benefit because they receive technological goods like computers and automotive parts through Chinese imports that aid in advancing the production of technologies (leading advancements through provisions contributes to the construction of motor vehicles), while Asian countries benefit from the participation of European nations’ work on sustainable resources that support policies made on industrial environments, progressing Asian countries leading form of income.
Even with the mass amounts of progress that can be made from connections between countries, there have been multiple disputes between European nations stemming from conflicts of interest. In a recent study made by the International Crisis Group, there was a recognition of the political dispute involving “Russia” who “has been massing troops on the Ukrainian border”, and sought to “curb its military deployment and activities” (Ero, 1). Since Ukraine gained its independence in 1991, it had been largely known that there were still unresolved disputes between Ukraine and Russia. The two countries practice different political structures, Ukraine being a republic whilst Russia remains communist. Similar to Swiss cantonal schools, the education in Ukraine remains independent, meaning they are separate by district or community, keeping the government from its curriculum. The education of Ukraine is heavily influenced by its past history of independence gained from Russia, in order to continuously preserve the republican mindset throughout adulthood. The curriculum contains the history of Ukraine’s independence from Russia in support of its political unity for 30 years. Russia’s educational system heavily facilitates the use of both pluralism and partial establishment, meaning education is overseen by the government, and schools are constructed identically to one another. Because the state runs the education in the country, the curriculum contains an absence of the influence of neighboring cultures and instead reinforces the perspective of a fascist government, heavily dwelling on the loss of the Ukraine which they seek to regain. This is the correlation between the main dispute of an independent Ukraine and a communist Russia. Because of this, trade remains absent (depleting resources and economic income) and the prosperity between the two nations are diminishing as violent efforts are presently taking place. The outcome of these connections can be analyzed through economic and political analysis.
Due to common economic interests between European and Asian countries, trade has increased significantly from positive connections made. The highest amount of imported trade gained by any country was received from China, calculating about 187 billion dollars in import profit by the year 2021. It was recorded that between Germany and China “goods worth 245.5 billion Euros were traded in 2021”(Destatis, 3) Most of what was traded was said to be “computers, telephones, and electric batteries” (Destatis 4). China is the leading importer of most of Germany’s resources due to China’s highly industrialized economy and its aspirations in communications with other countries (educational influence of various languages). Because of the massive importance placed on industrialization in China, including new efforts for safer sustainable alternatives, it was said that around 325 billion dollars worth of goods had been exported annually resulting in positive trade balances. Education helped influence these results as China created an image of being the leading importer for goods that are useful, conventional, of low cost, and bring a high profit. Additionally, China geared its education toward production-based labor and advertising of products through the integration of foreign languages, leaving them as the leading importer of goods for most countries. From the European Nations’ perspective, there was a desire to advance their technologies by outsourcing these reliable products (for example the automotive industry in Germany outsourcing to China for automotive tools). The connections made between the two nations are positive as China benefits in economic gain and European nations acquire tools to advance their technologies all influenced by the perspectives created in the countries’ educational systems.
Through the analysis of cultural and religious implementations in education affecting connections made between European and Asian countries, it can be understood that a healthy integration of religion and culture into a nation’s educational system shapes their perspective and reflects their image onto other countries, influencing the connections and disputes between them.
Third Source: Culture and Management in Asia
Warner, Malcolm. “Culture and Management in Hong Kong SAR: Malcolm Warner: Taylor & Fr.” Taylor & Francis, Taylor & Francis, 5 Mar. 2014, https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/mono/10.4324/9781315016115-10/culture-management-hong-kong-sar-malcolm-warner?context=ubx.
The article states that culture plays a significant role in economic development and educational management in Asian countries. It is interesting how it focuses significantly more on the economic portion saying how the culture of Asia shapes economy in capitalism like the cantonese dialect and region influences more industrial portions of the economy. In other parts of Asia like in India, it makes an example of how Indian markets have extended to other countries like the US. The culture of connections between the different countries and are all brought by the culture of their histories.
Quotations:
“Indonesian culture is strongly influenced by various religions, by the dutch culture and the Japanese culture.” (Warner 6).
“Predominantly compromised of the Cantonese dialect group” (Warner 4).
A discourse theoretical model for determining the limits of free speech on campus
Summary: The article discusses the question of how universities could reasonably and justifiably limit free speech on campus. The author argues that the best way to establish limits is through a collective process involving affected students. She also argues that universities need to teach their students about how to utilize their freedom of speech in a responsible and productive way.
Quotes:
“…universities are educational institutions and… [are]… responsible for… educating them about responsible use of freedom of speech in the public sphere”
“Public universities should also prepare students for their roles as citizens of the democratic society and thus provide them with competences and capabilities associated with democratic citizenship…”
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00131857.2020.1814256
College Students Support Free Speech – With Exceptions
Summary: The article discusses data from a study done on university campuses asking students various questions regarding free speech. The study found that while 96 percent of students agreed that free speech is an important democratic value, 25 percent of students also agreed that campuses should put limits on political views that upset certain groups. The article concludes that many students like the idea of free speech, but not the reality of it.
Quotes:
“College students love the idea of freedom of speech, but many want to carve out exceptions”
“…nothing in the Bill of Rights protects us from disturbing ideas”
https://mtsu.edu/first-amendment/post/637/college-students-support-free-speech-with-exceptions
2nd Source: Culture and Education
17?K Journai.of. 1-Igher – JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/1976618.
The article states that culture is preserved through education as it is learned through future generations, continuing the specific communities way of life. It discusses broadly that education in general has been “treated as a cultural institution”. The article gives examples of different objectives commonly taught in nomadic societies, modern societies (separated by region) and secluded communities. The article highlights through its example of educational variations that they are all diverse in what they offer but compliment the community altogether.
Quotes:
1). “It provides training in those practices, makes sure no member bypasses rules and routines by which the culture carries on its life activities “
2). “and it familiarizes each participant with the most essential values that have been forged out of past experiences and that continue to endow the culture”
New Source: Work Orientations in Scandanavia
Work Orientations in Scandinavia: Employment … – JSTOR. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4194874.
The article states that the leading countries for employment rates since 2001 were Scandanavian countries. These countries that include Sweden, Denmark and Norway all have similar patterns of employment and satisfaction rates correlating to their teaching styles. There is a large integration of culture and religion into the countries schools such as High integration of women in the labor markets, religious legacies and paid sick/parental leave. These actions are all taken in place to agree with the countries residents, increasing job satisfaction and performance.
Quotes:
1).”Unusually high integration of women on the Scandanavian Labor markets” (Svalfors 140).
2). “Very similar when it comes to their basic economic, cultural and political structures” (Svalfors 140).
A Tale of Two Arguments about Free Speech on Campus
Summary: This article reviews the two main perspectives on the topic of free speech on college campuses. The author discusses the fact that the percentage of college students that believe in free speech as being an absolute right has decreased in recent years, leading to things like stricter campus speech codes and the dis-invitation of controversial speakers on campuses. He then discusses the two sides of the debate, one supporting these new occurrences on campuses and the other saying that they are dangerous and ultimately ineffective at protecting students.
Quotes:
“Speech that poisons the communal well can reasonably be limited or forbidden“
“Colleges and universities have ceased to be champions of free speech and have become, rather, institutions that actively repress dissent”
https://www.aaup.org/article/tale-two-arguments-about-free-speech-campus#.YjIwkdbMK3I
Eng201Spring22 