Portfolio #15. Academic Articles

Entry #15: Academic Articles.

My abstract based on the article Academic Freedom 

Source:  Altbach, P. (2001). "Academic Freedom: International Warning Signs." in International Higher Education. pp 24, 25 (last visited November 2020).

Independence and freedom are two central values in the academic field, and not only are they desirable but also essential if quality teaching is the goal. Drawing a route that visits different moments in History and latitudes, the paper explores a variety of political and religious scenarios, which are clear samples of how academic freedom can be conveniently suppressed. From the medieval universities to the new patterns of communication that the Internet provides, it is possible to realise how academic freedom could be muzzled in order to manipulate the information either for political, economic or religious purposes. This article reveals the relation between the control over the information and the existence of totalitarian regimes, by exposing the frailty of freedom of expression in such contexts. Furthermore, this paper warns about the subtle, yet vivid threat against academic freedom that the markeplace and other external pressures still pose. The article is an eye-opener as regards the attacks that academic freedom still endures, and critically holds that the academic community is failing to counterattack properly.

No matter how much theory we may engulf, how many hours of reading or hard thinking we devote to a certain topic, until we put it into practice and finally see how it works we cannot say that the process is completed. Irrational as it may sound, we sometimes prefer to spend endless hours reading and adding more and more sources, instead of trying our understanding with excercises like this one, thus achieving a full comprehension of the matter. That is exactly what happened to me with this proposal: I had the chance to apply all that I had read about abstracts and its moves, and the outcome is my own abstract. This reflection is valid, I believe, because it helps me embrace an ultimate conclusion in regards to the importance of a well-balanced supply of  theory and practice in the context of Education.