Hess Week – Union Power! Academic Freedom and the Future of Higher Education

The panel will explore the role of academic labor unions in defending academic freedom in the current political moment.

• Sharon Austin, Professor of Political Science at the University of Florida
• Carolina Bank Muñoz, Chair of the Brooklyn College Chapter of the PSC-CUNY and Professor of Sociology at Brooklyn College
• Risa Lieberwitz, General Counsel of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), and Professor of Labor and Employment Law at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR)
• Paul Ortiz, Professor of History and Director of the Samuel Proctor Oral History Program at the University of Florida; President of United Faculty of Florida – UF (FEA/NEA/AFT/AFL-CIO; 2020-23); Robert L. Hess Scholar 2023-24
• Moderator: Alan Aja, Professor and Department Chairperson of Puerto Rican and Latino Studies at Brooklyn College

Sponsored by the Frederic Ewen Civil Liberties and Academic Freedom Lecture and co-sponsored by the Brooklyn College Chapter of the Professional Staff Congress-CUNY (PSC-CUNY).

All events will be live-streamed on the Wolfe Institute’s YouTube Channel.

Free versions of Paul Ortiz’s writings and other relevant readings are available online to the Brooklyn College community.

Hosted by Brooklyn College’s Ethyle R. Wolfe Institute for the Humanities in honor of Professor Paul Ortiz, our 2023-24 Robert L. Hess Scholar-in-Residence.