Academic Freedom on International Branch Campuses

• In Event: 68.032 - Academic Freedom in Higher Education: International Challenges and Perspectives

Abstract

One can argue that international branch campuses are singularly well-positioned for the exploration of cultural differences. A danger exists, nevertheless, that international branch campuses will either share few common values with their home campuses or become cloistered zones of free speech that have little influence on the societies they inhabit. These tensions are underscored by recent debates over academic freedom and shared governance at Duke Kunshan University, NYU-Shanghai, and the Yale-NUS campus (Farrar, 2013; Epstein, 2016).
In this conceptual paper, I argue that international branch campuses should reflect the identity and values of the home campus as much as they enable dialogue between different cultures. Rather than being removed from society, the administration, faculty, and students on international branch campuses should be empowered to interact and share ideas with their local communities through the concept of academic freedom, especially as economic inequality continues to grow throughout the world (Piketty, 2014) and the repression of basic human rights remains a universal concern (Amnesty International, 2013).
In order to promote academic freedom, I propose that the institutional values of an international branch campus should be evaluated by four cultural factors: 1) the motivations behind the creation of the branch campus; 2) the mission of the home campus; 3) the leadership of the branch campus; and 4) the environment of the home campus and the host country. Unless an international branch campus cultivates an environment where a wide range of viewpoints are respected and dissent is accepted, then the overall impact of the institution is likely to be negligible. By promoting academic freedom, however, international branch campuses can fulfill their potential as valuable locations for fostering deeper cultural awareness, enrichment, and understanding.

Author

• Michael Lanford, University of Southern California