Movies and TvShows featuring "academic-freedom" theme.

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed is a documentary film that investigates the alleged suppression of academic freedom in relation to intelligent design. The film presents interviews with various scientists, educators, and experts who claim to have faced discrimination and persecution due to their support for intelligent design. It posits a conspiracy within the scientific community to suppress alternative viewpoints and argues for the inclusion of intelligent design in academic discussions. The film also delves into the historical context of the debate, exploring the influences of Darwinism, politics, and religion. Through its content, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed raises questions about the boundaries of scientific inquiry and the freedom of expression within academia.

“In God We Teach” is the story of Matthew LaClair, a student at Kearny (NJ) public high school who secretly recorded his history teacher, David Paszkiewicz in class, and accused him of proselytizing for Jesus.

American Radical: The Trials of Norman Finkelstein is a captivating documentary that delves into the life and struggles of Norman Finkelstein, a controversial figure known for his viewpoints on Israeli policy, anti-Semitism, and academic freedom. The film examines Finkelstein's personal and professional battles, shedding light on the issues of identity, justice, and freedom of speech.

Following the verdict of the Scopes Monkey Trial, religious activism influenced members of the Florida state legislature to force the Florida State College for Women (FSCW) to ban the teaching of evolution, psychoanalysis, and other “controversial” subjects taught by professors such as Raymond Bellamy. Activists claimed the school was promoting atheism and labeled Bellamy, the administration, and the students of FSCW as “Filthy Dreamers.”

After years of right-wing assaults on higher education, attacks took a new form in 2023 and 2024 that has been described as the new McCarthyism. As students across the country organize protests against Israel's war on Gaza, decades-long taboos in academia around criticism of Israel-the "Palestine exception"-are shattered. This film features professors and students as they join calls for a ceasefire and divestment from companies that do business with Israel and face waves of crackdown from administrators, the media, the police and politicians. Scholars from diverse disciplines explain what is at stake in these protests and why so many young people identify with the Palestinian cause. The documentary unfolds as a story of college campuses as sites of both rebellion and repression, places where personal and collective histories converge in unexpected ways.