British University Inspects Reading Lists

Officials at Britain's University of Nottingham are inspecting reading lists used in the School of Politics and International Relations to look for material that is illegal or that could incite violence, The Times Higher reported. The committee that is reviewing the materials was created following the arrest of a graduate student and a clerical assistant who were arrested under anti-terrorism laws after police found that the latter had a copy of a terror training manual on his computer. The terrorism charges were eventually dropped. Some professors told the newspaper that they were outraged by the reviews. David Miller, professor of sociology at the University of Strathclyde, called the policy a "fundamental attack on academic freedom," adding that "the module review committee is a censorship committee: it can't operate as anything else."