Art Censorships on Campus

Censorship comes in many forms: direct or threatened acts of removal or vandalism of artworks, explicit or implicit restrictions on exhibitions or course content, social censorship arising from shaming, threats to employment and funding, and self-censorship as a result of “chilling effects” of legislation. In recent years, academics have taken positions both in support of and in opposition to suppression of art on campus. Proposed “divisive concepts” legislation in many states suggests that the pressure to censor potentially controversial art will grow in future years. This panel seeks papers discussing recent censorships experienced on campus: in classrooms, studios, museums and galleries, and public spaces beyond the “protected” walls of formal exhibition spaces. How can and should academics and other campus professionals respond to pressures to censor art and art pedagogies? What weight do defenses of academic freedom hold in actual rather than theoretical cases of censorship? What constitutes the boundary between self-censorship and self-editing? How do the realities of contemporary contingent academic labor complicate matters, if at all? Who can and will have the responsibility and authorization to decide these questions?