Northwestern Upholds its "Brand," Never Mind Free Speech and Academic Freedom

Threats to free speech and academic freedom in health care were a major concern when we started Health Care Renewal.  Such threats may now be less anechoic, but do not seem to have diminished.Censorship and the Resignation of Alice Dreger The latest example was at Northwestern University. The basics of the case appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education. Alice Dreger just resigned her position of 10 years as "a clinical professor of medical humanities and bioethics."What prompted her departure was the fallout over an article by William Peace, who at the time was a visiting professor in the humanities at Syracuse University. Mr. Peace wrote an essay for an issue of the journal, Atrium, that Ms. Dreger guest-edited. The essay is a frank account of a nurse who helped Mr. Peace regain his sexual function after he was paralyzed.According to Ms. Dreger, Eric G. Neilson, vice president for medical affairs and dean of the university’s school of medicine, tried to censor the essay. The essay is straightforward in its description of sex, and includes multiple mentions of 'the dick police,' but the purpose is to illuminate what went on in the era prior to disability rights and studies.As Mr. Peace writes, the unconventional approach of the unnamed nurse 'injected a compassionate eroticism that made me a better man.'In her letter, Ms. Dreger writes that the university allowed the essay to be published online only after she and Mr. Peace threatened to talk publicly about what...
Source: Health Care Renewal - Category: Health Management Tags: academic freedom anechoic effect bioethics censorship free speech mission-hostile management Northwestern University Source Type: blogs