James is a Research Fellow with the Initiative and his main focus will be on higher education policy, including academic freedom.
James holds a BA in Classics from Oxford, an MA in Ancient History from the University of London, an MA in Political Science from Stanford, and a PhD in Classics from Stanford.
He is also the co-host (with Michael Johnston) of Free Kiwis!, a podcast dedicated to free speech in a New Zealand context, and he can be found on Twitter at @Kleisthenes2.
Phone: 04 499 0790
Academic freedom is a hot topic at the moment. The coalition agreement required universities to have academic freedom policies to receive government funding. Read more
In this episode, Michael and James talk to Oxford theologian Nigel Biggar as he discusses his experiences with academic cancel culture and argues that while the British Empire had significant flaws, it also helped spread important liberal values and institutions throughout the world. The conversation then delves into how modern universities are struggling with free speech and academic discourse, suggesting that a combination of institutional cowardice, loss of religious frameworks, and generational disconnection from historical threats to democracy has led to current campus tensions around controversial topics. Read more
A few weeks ago, soon after checking into my hotel in Varanasi, I got a knock at my door. It was the manager, asking if I’d noticed that my visa was about to run out in precisely twenty-four hours. Read more
Only a few days after the University of Auckland’s so-called academic freedom policy was rejected by the university’s Senate, Victoria University of Wellington’s own academic freedom policy has come to light. Victoria’s policy is likely a response to the government’s stated intention to make such policies a condition for government funding. Read more
In this episode, Michael talks to James about his recent report about the state of academic freedom in New Zealand universities, highlighting concerns about censorship, institutional bias, and self-censorship among academics. Their conversation explores the causes of these issues, including commercialisation of universities and the influence of progressive politics, and proposes recommendations such as new legislation, annual audits, and better training for administrators to protect and strengthen academic freedom. Read more
In this episode, James and Dr Nick Matzke discuss recent changes at the University of Auckland, including a push to cut some existing courses and a special University Senate meeting where a vote was held on a motion to pause the Curriculum Framework Transformation for further discussion. Dr Nick Matzke, a biogeography professor, provides insights into the tensions between incorporating mātauranga Māori and maintaining scientific rigour in university curricula, while also addressing broader issues of academic freedom and faculty governance. Read more
Academic freedom is an essential ingredient in any flourishing university system. It allows ideas to be put forward and debated, and thus underpins high-quality research and teaching. Read more
Dr James Kierstead talked to Cam Slater about free speech on Reality Check Radio. Listen here. Read more
A couple years before the outbreak of the Second World War, the philosopher Karl Popper moved across the world to take up a position at what was then Canterbury College. Popper, who lost no fewer than sixteen family members in the Holocaust, was under no illusions about what would have happened to him had he stayed in Vienna. Read more
Dr James Kierstead discusses his new report Unpopular Opinions: Academic Freedom in New Zealand with Prof Grant Schofield. Dr Oliver Hartwich moderates this discussion. Read more
Dr James Kierstead appears on The Platform to talk to Sean Plunket about his latest report on Academic Freedom. Read Dr James Kierstead's report, Unpopular Opinions: Academic Freedom in New Zealand, here. Read more
This research report provides a detailed and thoroughly documented examination of the state of academic freedom at our universities, together with an analysis of the main threats to academic freedom in this country at present. “We’ve collected 72 testimonies from academics, analysed 5 surveys of academics and students, and written up detailed reports on 21 incidents involving academic freedom that have occurred over the past decade in this country,” explained Dr James Kierstead, Research Fellow at the Initiative and author of the report. Read more
Wellington (Wednesday, 21 August 2024) - The New Zealand Initiative has released a new research report examining the state of academic freedom at our universities. The report, entitled Unpopular Opinions: Academic Freedom in New Zealand, provides a detailed and thoroughly documented examination of the state of academic freedom at our universities, together with an analysis of the main threats to academic freedom in this country at present. Read more
For some time now free speech advocates in this country have been enviously following the passage of the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act through the UK Parliament. The act gave teeth to the freedom of speech provisions in the 1986 Education Act by allowing students and academics whose free speech rights had been trampled on to seek redress though the courts, and also established a new ‘Free Speech Czar’ for English universities. Read more
Last Thursday, as any readers not currently residing under rocks will know, there was a general election in the UK. Labour won big, earning the second largest parliamentary majority in the party’s history. Read more