EB Campbell

Abstract Academic freedom is an unusual and complex set of norms and practices. It arises out of the combination of the corporate self-governance of medieval universities and the spirit of disciplinary scientific inquiry in modern research universities. It combines a principle of antiorthodoxy as to conclusions with the robust associational self-governance of scholarly communities whose members evaluate one another as participants in that shared enterprise. It has never been easily or wholly embraced by wider societies; today it is under wholesale attack. This article combines conceptual, normative, and historical analyses of academic freedom as a general norm with attention to conflicts over it in the mid-to-late 2010s and early 2020s. Some genuinely hard cases and questions tested the meaning of academic freedom and university values well before the current crisis.

Now posted ahead of print:

"Conceptualizing Academic Freedom," forthcoming, Annual Review of Political Science.

(Uncorrected proofs, so a few minor edits different from the version that will be published in June.)

doi.org/10.1146/annu...

Is there a concerted effort, on the part of academic professional associations, to implore Gallup to not abandon the presidential approval rating?

Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in Religious Studies Please review the details for the position before applying. When applying, please confirm your legal name is entered exactly as it appears on your government-issued identification. Ensure that you hav...

The Department of Religious Studies at @wellesley.edu invites applications for a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow in #Religion in the Americas, beginning in fall, 2026.
➡️ Indigenous religious cultures, Christianities, Black & Diasporic religions. Apply by March 9.

wd1.myworkdaysite.com/recruiting/w...

If someone singing about love offends you, it’s more than just language you don’t understand.

One month to submit in response to our Call for Papers! Please circulate this broadly within your circles as we see study the global impact, contradictions, and unfinished promises of the Declaration of Independence. #polisky #democracy #declarationofindependence #academisky

FUNDING ALERT - the Interdisciplinary Network on Rural Population Health and Aging invites proposals for pilot research on the drivers of rural health & aging trends and disparities. Proposals are due by Friday, April 10. The RFP can be accessed at drive.google.com/file/d/1YESp...

Research associate – doctoral candidate (75%) (ID 377) The Manifesto Project analyses parties’ election manifestos in order to study parties’ policy preferences. To this end, the project conducts conte...

📣 Come work with us! The @wzb.bsky.social Center for Civil Society Research is looking for a research associate/doctoral candidate (75%) for a 3 year period, starting on Apr 1, 2026. The researcher will work in the Manifesto Project. More:
wzb.hr4you.org/job/view/428...

Apply by Jan 25, 2026! 🗓️

Excited to see this out in the world!

This was a fascinating read. I especially love the concept “crisis egalitarianism” which was so ubiquitous in the early days of COVID. So helpful to identify the leading narratives in times of disruption and reflect on how they shape our collective sense of possibility.

A lovely way to start break- learning I secured funding to bring my students to Walden Pond next semester.

6 myths about rural America: How conventional wisdom gets it wrong Many people understand rural America through stereotypes. Two scholars who study rural communities bust 6 of those myths, complicating the conventional wisdom.

What is conventional wisdom getting wrong about rural America? ASA member Shannon M. Monnat @smonnat.bsky.social @syracuseu.bsky.social, w/ Tim Slack (LSU), highlights some common misconceptions and why correcting them matters. @us.theconversation.com

As #rankchoicevoting is top of mind today I’m resharing my recent deep dive on the form & it’s impacts on political culture in #Alaska #rcv #ajcs

Cuts to academic programs are not directly tied to what is happening with IDS, but rather signal a rapid degradation of educative offerings and quieting of free inquiry. On the cuts: www.indystar.com/story/news/p...

As a former student journalist for the IDS, this is disheartening to say the least. IU made massive cuts over the summer to a host of invaluable programs including African American and African Diaspora Studies as well.

University of Toronto Logo, tree over a crest

Job alert ➡️ Assistant Professor of Religion,Medicine, & Healing @utoronto.ca (tenure stream).Research/teaching of religion, medicine, & healing in cultural/political contexts using historical, ethnographic, and/or textual/media studies methods, Apply by Nov 6, 2025. jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Toronto-...

A joyful day handing out free Narcan for Overdose Awareness #ioad #endoverdose

Contesting Deaths’ Despair: Local Public Religion, Radical Welcome and Community Health in the Overdose Crisis, Massachusetts, USA In the United States, the first decades of the twenty-first century have been marked by a worsening fatal drug overdose epidemic leading life expectancy to decline for the first time in a century. Oft...

Sharing one more piece during Overdose Awareness Week "Contesting Deaths' Despair: Local Public Religion, Radical Welcome and Community Health in the Overdose Crisis, Massachusetts, USA" #ioad #savealife #IOAD2025 #OverdoseAware #EndOverdose
Full text: www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...

Readings for #OverdoseAwarenessWeek? Contexts has you covered! A thread of accessible, affecting sociology:

↪️ The War on Drugs Turns 50, by @ebcampbell.bsky.social: journals.sagepub.com/doi/epdf/10....

↪️ Grieving Overdose, by @ebcampbell.bsky.social: journals.sagepub.com/doi/epdf/10....

Thanks for bringing this to our attention, Emily, and thank you for your work on the subject! Readers, another excellent, open-access piece from EB Campbell is "The War on Drugs Turns 50": journals.sagepub.com/doi/epdf/10....

This week is Overdose Awareness Week. Today I'm re-sharing my work on the significance of grief in the overdose crisis—"a devastatingly ubiquitous feature of American life."
Full text here: journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.... @contexts.org #IOAD2025 #EndOverdose #SaveALife

Thank you! I really enjoyed hearing your commentary on the panel at ASA!

New pub on #Alaska and rank choice voting where I examine the reforms impacts on political culture. I theorize the vital center as a source of social solidarity— advancing discussions in civil sphere theory. Out now in the American Journal of Cultural Sociology! Full text: rdcu.be/ezXN2 #rcv

Grateful to present my research on #civility & #bridgebuilding this morning at the Political Engagement paper session of @asapolisoc.bsky.social #asa2025
The paper is out now with Philosophy and Society available in full here: doiserbia.nb.rs/img/doi/0353...

Political sociology sessions kicking off at #ASA2025 with a conversation about political engagement!

Terrific @asapolisoc.bsky.social panel on Political Engagement at #asa2025 this am. Overall takeaway, conventional understandings of engagement are far too restricted to voting. E.g. Case's research says egalitarian and redistributive ballot initiatives are hugely popular, esp. in red states.

Start your morning with us #ASA2025

Thrilled to be among excellent company in the latest issue of Philosophy and Society!

[Grace Kao] US blocks words, targets sociology, society Politically. Historical. Gender. Female. Women. Race and Ethnicity. Barriers. Cultural Differences. Equality. Inequality. Socio-Economic Status. LGBT. These are words that appear regularly in sociolog...

Check out this recent op-ed from ASA member Grace Kao, Yale University.

www.koreaherald.com/article/1042...

Beyond complexity and crisis—which we face in spades—it showcases how people who once HATED each other actually came together for a common good using science as moderator to guide decision making.
Free to read here: oajournals.fupress.net/index.php/sm...