The British Association for American Studies was founded in 1955 to “promote, support and encourage the study of the United States in the Universities, Colleges and Schools of the United Kingdom, and by independent scholars.” These objectives are today enshrined in BAAS’ charitable purpose, which is to advance education through the promotion of American Studies, including through “research, teaching, education and publication” and “the broadening of knowledge about the United States within the UK”.
These objectives reflect that the expressed principles of the U.S. and the global community—of which BAAS is one legacy—are the defence and promotion of democracy and the open exchange of ideas and scholarship.
At the core of our mission is the principle that the UK should be a country where access to free and open discussion of US policy, both domestic and foreign should be available to members without impediment or fear of reprisal. Currently that debate encompasses urgent concerns over the politicised censorship and withdrawal of federal research funding for topics including climate change and gender, fears over U.S. participation in genocides and illegal wars committed by allied powers, and the authoritarian rhetoric and actions undertaken by U.S. political and cultural figures and institutions. As scholars we may examine these questions from a range of perspectives, but we are united in our commitment to academic freedom concerning them.
From the perspective of the BAAS Executive, conditions that impede this academic freedom, such as reduced global mobility (including the arbitrary removal of visas to students coming to the UK to study the US and visa versa), the disturbances of war (including forced famine), and the erosion of livelihoods that might be the consequences, direct or indirect, of U.S. governmental actions, run counter to the aspirations and goals of BAAS and the spirit in which it was founded and its ongoing purpose.
BAAS does not lightly make public statements of this kind, but when such clear harms to academic freedom arise, as is being seen daily, we are mandated by our constitution to speak out. Our statement is in line with the principles laid out in guidance from the Department for Education on the 1st August 2025, including Skills Minister Jacqui Smith’s comment that “Academic freedom is non-negotiable in our world-leading institutions, and we will not tolerate the silencing of academics or students who voice legitimate views.” (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/free-speech-rules-to-protect-academic-freedom-come-into-force)
We consequently express our dismay and grave concern over the escalating threats posed to academic freedom both in the USA and worldwide, including where U.S. inaction, direct policy, or military or technological intervention enables the advance of authoritarian regimes. Academic freedom is an essential element that underpins democratic societies. It is non-negotiable. We therefore encourage our members, partners, and organisations sympathetic to our aims to use the freedoms we have in Britain to maintain vigilance against the erosion of freedoms of access to scholarship and knowledge, and strengthen their commitments to our founding aims of “promoting”, “supporting” and “encouraging” the “study of the United States” in the United Kingdom, for as many members of the global community as possible.
