Reflecting on Academic Freedom Through Fiction: A Theatrical Exploration of the Blurry Contours of the Freedom to Teach

Authors

Julie Paquin, University of Ottawa, CanadaFollow
Maude ChokoFollow

Abstract

This article aims at exploring the contribution that creative forms of research can make to the study of a little-known aspect of academic freedom in the Canadian context – academic freedom in curriculum development. It seeks to address the methodological challenge posed by research on academic freedom, that is, the fact that any academic writing on this topic necessarily draws initially, though not exclusively, from the researchers’ own experiences and perspectives. The article brings to life a fictional faculty meeting, during which questions about academic freedom in teaching are discussed. Although this meeting is the product of our imagination, its starting point is based on real-life events, that is, the implementation in some North American universities of a course developed and initially offered outside of academia by people closely related to a well-known personal development organization.

Keywords

academic freedom, arts-based research, ethnodrama, autoethnography

Author Bio(s)

Julie Paquin (https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2054-9127) is a doctor in comparative law and an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa. She teaches and conducts research in the areas of sociology of law, contract law, law and development, professional regulation and the legal professions, and academic freedom in Canada. Her work involves the use of various qualitative and quantitative research methods to study legal phenomena from socio-legal and multidisciplinary perspectives. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Julie Paquin, 57 Louis-Pasteur Dr., University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6N5. Email: julie.paquin@uottawa.ca.

Maude Choko (https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1866-9987) is a writer and actress and a labour law expert. She has been teaching labour law to undergraduate and graduate students and has been using the pen (or the keyboard!) for more than 12 years. Her academic work, focussing mainly on fundamental rights of workers, has been presented in several international conferences (Mexico, Italy, Canada, Australia, England). She had the pleasure to see her play “Trois fois passera, la dernière y restera” produced at l’Espace La risée, in Montreal.

Publication Date

11-18-2023

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2023.5639

Recommended APA Citation

Paquin, J., & Choko, M. (2023). Reflecting on Academic Freedom Through Fiction: A Theatrical Exploration of the Blurry Contours of the Freedom to Teach. The Qualitative Report, 28(11), 3311-3332. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2023.5639

ORCID ID

https://orcid.org 0000-0002-2054-9127