Official censorship should not exist in university theatre productions. What censorship does exist is primarily unofficial--often unspoken--and consists of group, authority, and financial pressures on the director and the production staff, influencing them to avoid risks necessary for artistic growth and intellectual development. This sort of…

The single great value of composition theory is that it gives writing instructors ways to perceive and to talk (about)/write (about) and experience the language that they purport to teach. It is a vocabulary (or set of vocabularies) that, in its structures and definitions, (re-)structures and (re-)defines perceptions of language. If writing is a…

Since freedom of thought and expression is essential in a democracy, censorship of language is rightly regarded as a threat to all other freedoms. Still, it is inevitable that certain restrictions will occasionally be imposed on language in America and in other societies. Restrictions on language date back to the Ten Commandments, which condemned…

The author has been asked to discuss academic freedom and political correctness in wartime or times of great stress. He talks about real threats to security--not the danger that one will be offended by a student's or professor's arguably sexist, racist, or homophobic point-of-view and will feel dis-empowered, demeaned, or stripped of self-esteem.…

Articles of The Bill of Rights, although comprising the fundamental principles of American society, are often opposed by many people on varying grounds. For example, many people support physical abuses by law enforcement officials, even though they might violate constitutional rights. The First Amendment, simple in original wording, has resulted…

Describes classrooms and schools as a culture of power that mirror society's unjust social relations. Investigates the questions: (1) is it ever justified to use power to interrupt power?; and (2) does all silencing subjugate? Outlines arguments for and against censorship of teachers who believe that portraying homosexual lifestyles positively…

Addresses Barbara Applebaum's argument that speech acts reproduce power. Argues that Applebaum's focus on utterances and expressions of belief is too narrow because it leaves out silence, particularly about sexual orientation in school curricula. Describes silence as a speech act that promotes harm just as powerfully as other speech acts. (CAJ)

Argues that conflicts existing within the professional value system of librarianship have made it difficult for librarians to fulfill their obligation to represent fairly the values and viewpoints of all segments of society. Professional goals and ideals that demonstrate such conflicts are discussed, and possible means to their resolution are…