JAMES KIERSTEAD: Another academic freedom case

Academic freedom has become a major concern at universities across the English-speaking world in recent years. Speakers have been disinvited, papers retracted, and academics disciplined or even dismissed for things they have said or positions they have taken. My 2024 Initiative report on academic freedom at New Zealand universities demonstrated that academic freedom is also at risk here.  

I was reminded of this in the latest round of my legal case against Victoria University of Wellington, which disestablished my role as a Classics lecturer at the end of 2023, only a few months after my first report for the Initiative (on administrative bloat at our universities) was published.  

 In a long-awaited response to my Official Information Act request, VUW sent me a number of documents. One of these was written by the professor who was Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences when I was made redundant and contains her recollections of the crucial meeting. (She claims that no notes were taken.) 

In this document, the former Dean says that my research was marked down due to my lack of ‘awareness of the university’s broader research goals.’ She also says that one of the ‘limitations’ the panel perceived in my teaching had to do with ‘incorporating Māori and Pasifika perspectives.’ 

How exactly I was supposed to incorporate ‘Māori and Pasifika perspectives’ into my courses on ancient Greece is still something of a mystery to me. But the important thing about these expectations is that they seem to fly in the face of academic freedom. 

Academic freedom means that academics have the right to conduct their own research and teaching without undue interference.  

 Now, I do remember hearing a little bit about the university’s ‘broader research goals’ when I was at VUW. Unfortunately, I already had my own research goals, and the right – or so I thought – to pursue them. 

 As for Māori and Pasifika perspectives, these are obviously important in some fields of enquiry. But what if my judgment as a scholar of ancient Greece is that they aren’t of much relevance to my subject? Am I allowed to think that without being marked down by my superiors? 

Apparently not, if the former Dean’s recollections of what was said at that meeting are accurate. That is yet more evidence that New Zealand universities are undermining academic freedom rather than protecting it.  

You can hear Dr James Kierstead and Dr Michael Johnston discuss this topic further on our podcast here. James is an Adjunct Fellow at the NZ Initiative. This article was sourced from their weekly newsletter.

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