The semiotics of the stuff faculty stick to their office doors has recently attracted scholarly interest. It has been noted that these office doors represent a blank canvas, a space that a professor can fill with images and texts that furnish clues to his or her beliefs, interests, and philosophy of learning. This present study was inspired by the…

Proceedings of the 1990 Wolf Trap Conference on Academic Freedom and Artistic Expression (Virginia, April 29-May 1) are summarized, focusing on the current climate for the arts, institutional neutrality, the role of the arts in the academic community, scope of protection of the arts, and the academic community as captive audience. (MSE)

The concluding statement by participants in the 1990 Wolf Trap Conference on Academic Freedom and Artistic Expression (Virginia, April 29-May 1) proposes policies to assist institutions in responding to issues of accountability, audience, and public funding arising from presentation of artistic works to the public in a manner that preserves…

The president of the New School for Social Research (New York) explains the institution's policy on freedom of expression in the context of a controversial art exhibit and suggests that academe consider how to use freedom of expression more vigorously in pursuit of a society free of prejudice and intolerance. (MSE)

Congressional compromises on the issue of academic freedom and artistic expression in the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) appropriations controversy have already ceded valuable ground. The best protection for democracy is an unregulated market in expression, a fundamental commitment to intellectual freedom. (MSE)

The president of Nassau Community College (New York) discusses the institution's resistance to strong off-campus pressures to stop production of a controversial play. Pressure came through letters and telephone calls from community members, statements by local and state officials, local media editorials, and interference in adoption of a school…

The decision not to display graphic photographs of war to accompany a Montgomery College (Maryland) production of the Jean Anouilh play "Antigone," and related controversies over the use of facilities and faculty-college relations, are discussed. It is concluded that no episode of censorship on campus is minor. (MSE)

The president of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago discusses the history of and issues in two art exhibits at the institution, one in which a late mayor was depicted in a controversial manner and another in which the United States flag was displayed in an unusual way. (MSE)

The history of the controversy over Southwest Missouri State University's production of "The Normal Heart," a play about acquired immune deficiency syndrome, is chronicled and concern is expressed about the resurgence of bitterness and hatred in the debate over academic freedom, even within the academic community. (MSE)

Issues and recent events concerning censorship of the arts in the United States are examined, and the threat to artistic freedom posed by recent Supreme Court decisions is examined. Focus is on erosion of the actual or imminent harm requirement of the law and on the court's class-based approach to free speech. (MSE)

Cancellation of the screening of a film, "The Last Temptation of Christ," at Furman University (South Carolina), then at a public library, and the debate over granting of credit to students for participating in a related discussion, are described. Faculty response and the aftermath of the controversy are also discussed. (MSE)

In this new feature of the "Academe" journal, work by faculty members is highlighted who are mobilizing in support of academic freedom on their campuses and beyond. This September-October issue of the journal includes the following brief reflections from faculty all relating to the central theme of "fighting back": "Free…

It is argued that universities are pervasively and necessarily engaged in regulation of speech, which complicates many existing claims about hate speech codes on campus. The ultimate test is whether the restriction on speech is a legitimate part of the institution's mission, commitment to liberal education. (MSE)