"Academic freedom has been a principle that undergirds the university since 1915. Beyond this, it also protects a spirit of free inquiry essential to a democratic society. But in the post-9/11 present, the basic principles of academic freedom have been deeply challenged. This timely collection of essays and interviews addresses some of the most urgent issues facing higher education and democratic society in the United States. Global political and economic pressures have had dramatic effect on the conditions for teaching and research, and many of these changes have raised serious questions about the status of academic freedom and intellectual activism"--