NCA VLO: Academic Freedom and a Commitment to IDEA: Navigating the Current Cultural Climate

In this VLO, IDEA scholars from a range of institutions will share a brief history of academic freedom in the U.S. and how systematic marginalization impacts academic freedom surrounding IDEA principles, pedagogy, and research. The conversation will then move to the essential questions that academics should ask in relation to their institutions and location when they experience attacks on their academic freedom in the current cultural climate. The goal of this virtual learning opportunity is to provide IDEA scholars, allies, and those in positions of leadership with an understanding of how academia restricts the academic freedom of IDEA scholars and what information we need to support IDEA in the current cultural climate. The presentation will end with time for Q&A. The NCA IDEA council is sponsoring this VLO and will provide opportunities for follow-up support at the 2025 convention and beyond. 

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Learning Outcomes: 

• Attendees will be able to articulate the origins and definition of Academic Freedom in the U.S.  
• Attendees will be able to articulate how systematic marginalization compromises academic freedom in relation to IDEA   
• Attendees will be able to articulate what questions we should ask from our current institutional locations when teaching and researching topics related to IDEA  

Speakers: 

• Leandra Hernández, University of Utah 
  • Leandra H. Hernández (PhD, Texas A&M University) is an associate professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of Communication at the University of Utah. She is a queer critical/feminist health and media studies scholar with applied praxis contributions to teaching, research, and service. She enjoys teaching health communication, gender studies, and media studies courses. She utilizes Chicana feminist & qualitative approaches to explore Latina/o/x/e cultural health experiences and Latina/o/x/e journalism and media representations in reproductive justice, gendered violence, and social media contexts. Her teaching philosophy is informed by social justice approaches, and she is passionate about mentoring students through diverse and inclusive research projects. She is the co-author of one monograph and co-editor of six co-edited volumes. Further, her research is published in several books, as well as in the journals Health Communication, Communication Education, Frontiers in Communication, Communication Teacher, Journal of Applied Communication Research, Women’s Studies in Communication, Journal of Media and Religion, Communication Research, QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking, and Departures in Critical Qualitative Research.  Most recently, she is the recipient of the 2024 National Communication Association Women’s Caucus Francine Merritt award in recognition of outstanding contributions to the lives of women in communication, particularly through mentorship, service, advocacy, pedagogy, and scholarship. 

• Noorie Baig, Flame University
  • Noorie Baig, PhD (she/her), teaches communication and cultural studies courses at FLAME University in Pune, India. She completed her PhD in Communication at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque. Her research focuses on how South Asian Indian identities are communicated in diasporic contexts. Her PhD dissertation project is an oral history of South Asian organizers/activists in the U.S. 

• Jim Cherney, University of Nevada Reno
  • James L. “Jim” Cherney (Ph.D. Indiana University, 2003) is Associate Professor and Director of the Communication Core in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno. His primary area of research is ableist rhetoric, particularly as it operates around access, sport, visibility, law, and popular culture. He has published articles in outlets including Western Journal of Communication, Disability Studies Quarterly, Communication & Sport, and Argumentation and Advocacy. His book Ableist Rhetoric: How We Know, Value, and See Disability, was published by Penn State University Press in 2019. He has received the Jim Ferris Award for Outstanding Achievement in Disability and Communication from the Disability Issues Caucus, which he has served in various officer positions for over 16 years. He currently represents the caucus on the NCA’s IDEA Council. 

• Julie-Ann Scott-Pollock, University of North Carolina
  • Julie-Ann Scott-Pollock is a Professor of Communication and Performance  Studies at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Her research centers on narratives of stigmatized embodiment as performance of daily life. She is the NCA IDEA Council Chair and the recipient of the IDEA Community Engagement Award, the Donald Ecroyd Award for Outstanding Teaching in Higher Education, and the Lilla Heston Award for Outstanding Scholarship in Interpretation and Performance Studies. She is also the recipient of the  Jim Ferris Award for Outstanding Achievement in Disability and Communication from the Disability Issues Caucus and the Best Book, Article, Book Chapter, and Mid-Career Award from the Ethnography Division. Her community-engaged pedagogy and research has been recognized with The UNC System Board of Governor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and the University award for scholarly engagement. Her forthcoming book with Temple University Press Stories of Raising Boys: Disability, Gender Expansiveness, and Anxiety interweaves autoethnographic  storytelling with narrative interviews to map the intersections of identity in daily life. 

Moderator: Julie-Ann Scott-Pollock, University of North Carolina (scottj@uncw.edu)