Join the Heterodox Canada community for a virtual symposia session reviewing and discussing two recent articles that seem to indicate the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) is either not a fan of the idea of institutional neutrality, or that their vision of it will deviate from what organizations like FIRE lay out (see here). The first article, in Press Progress, heavily quotes the CAUT President (Peter McInnes) where he all but directly says that institutional neutrality is a threat to academic freedom. The second article, presented on the CAUT website, argues for institutional “restraint” rather than neutrality. Does the argument that institutional neutrality could be used as ‘a cover for giving into outside pressures’ stand up? Could institutional neutrality ‘chill debate’?

This symposium will be hosted via Zoom.