The Culture Wars Have Come for American Higher Ed. Again.

PEN America’s Nadine Farid Johnson joins the podcast to talk about the status of “educational gag orders” at the state level, or the legislative efforts to restrict K-12 and college teaching on topics like race, gender, American history, and LGBTQ+ identities. Beyond instruction, we’re also now seeing potential restrictions on tenure, gag orders on reproductive health, and services provided to transgender students. What does the upswing in activities by state legislatures in the ramp up to the 2024 election mean? Could these gag orders happen at the federal level? Here are some of the links and references from this week’s show: COVID State of Emergency Ends in May; Federal Pandemic Aid was Key to Supporting Students ACE | Feb. 6, 2023 More than 100 House Republicans File Amicus Brief on Biden Student Loan Forgiveness The Hill | Feb. 3, 2023 Campus Free Speech PEN America Education Gag Orders PEN America PEN America Index of Educational Gag Orders In Higher Education, New Educational Gag Orders Would Exert Unprecedented Control Over College Teaching PEN America | Feb. 1, 2022 ACE Statement on Open Academic Inquiry (2022) Florida Rejects A.P. African American Studies Class The New York Times | Jan. 19, 2023 Will a Small, Quirky Florida College Become ‘DeSantis U’? The Washington Post | Jan. 23, 2023 DeSantis Aims To Cut College Diversity Efforts; New College Ousts President The Washington Post | Jan. 31, 2023 Education Issues Vault to Top of the G.O.P.’s Presidential Race The New York Times | Feb. 2, 2023 Attempt to Defund UW Gender Studies Fails Again Casper Star Tribune | Feb. 3, 2023