Academic Freedom refers to the right of teachers and researchers, particularly in colleges

and universities, to investigate their respective fields of knowledge and express their views without fear of restraint or dismissal from office. The right rests on the assumption that open and free inquiry within a teacher's or researcher's field of study is essential to the pursuit of knowledge and to the performance of his or her proper educational function. At present this right is observed generally in countries in which education is regarded as a means not only of pouring in established views but also of enlarging the existing body of knowledge. The concept of academic freedom implies also that a teacher's employment depends primarily on the competence of teachers in their fields rather than on irrelevant considerations such as political or religious beliefs or attachments.

The concept and practice of academic freedom, as recognized presently in Western civilization, date roughly from the 17th century. Before the 17th century, intellectual activities at universities were restricted largely by theological considerations, and opinions or conclusions that conflicted with religious doctrines were likely to be condemned as heretical. In the late 17th century the work of such men as the English philosophers John Locke and Thomas Hobbes helped pave the way for academic freedom in the modern sense. Their writings demonstrated the need for unlimited inquiry in the sciences and for a general approach to learning unrestrained by preconceptions of any kind. In the 18th and 19th centuries, universities in Western Europe and the United States enjoyed increasing academic freedom as acceptance of the experimental methods of the sciences became more widespread and as control of institutions by religious denominations became less rigorous. In Britain, however, religious tests for graduation, fellowships, and teaching positions were not abolished until the late 19th century.

During the second half of the 20th century academic freedom was recognized broadly in most Western countries. However, violations of the right increased as dictatorship emerged in various countries, notably in Germany, Italy, and Russia. Educators in Italy were forced to pledge support to the Fascist regime. Similar restrictions, including the teaching of racist theories in some fields, were enforced in German universities under National Socialism.

Violations of academic freedom also occurred in the United States in the 20th century. A notable example was the Scopes trial, held in Dayton, Tennessee, in 1925. A high school teacher was accused and convicted of violating a state law that forbade the teaching of the theory of evolution in the public schools. This legislation was abolished in 1967.

In the early 1950s, largely because of congressional investigations of communism in the U. S. , many institutions of higher learning adopted regulations requiring loyalty oaths from university teachers. Some of these oaths, insofar as they were required only of teachers, were declared unconstitutional in some state courts. All professional associations of teachers and administrators, including the Nation al Education Association, the American Association of Colleges, and the American Association of University Professors, are opposed to special loyalty oaths and to all violations of academic freedom.

The 1960s and early 1970s were marked by protest and violence on college campuses over United States involvement in the war in Vietnam. In some places professors were dismissed or arrested for pro testing American participation in the war. This turmoil reached a tragic climax in 1970 with the killing of several students during campus demonstrations. In the long run, however, these disturbances led to a broad recognition of the legitimate concerns of students about the quality of higher education, and of the respons

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