Faculty at the Florida International University are raising alarms that a new state-mandated curriculum for a sociology course “does not accurately represent the field” and that a new textbook edited by state officials amounts to censorship of the discipline.
A letter signed by 19 faculty members of the Department of Global and Sociocultural Studies alleges that the new state-mandated lesson plans for the Introduction to Sociology course amount to a sweeping violation of academic freedom and will leave students unprepared for further studies. One faculty member abstained from signing the letter.
At a hearing on Tuesday, the Faculty Senate at FIU considered formally escalating the conflict over alleged breaches in academic freedom that faculty members say are enshrined in the state constitution and in the faculty’s labor union contract with the state. A particular issue was the new textbook…