The Open University is fully committed to academic freedom and to its obligations under the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act 2023. Decisions about curriculum content are made by academic teams on scholarly grounds (Worried about freedom of speech? Then what’s happening at the Open University should terrify you, 2 March).
We are clear that the correspondence between the Open University and the UK Lawyers for Israel that was cited in your article related to a specific query about one case study. This was within a single introductory history module, which had been scheduled for replacement as part of routine curriculum renewal. We do not have any institutional prohibition on the use of the term “Ancient Palestine” and indeed the term remains in use in the current module in question. As your article notes, the use of the term was defended and no staff member has been asked to stop using it.
Academic colleagues at the Open University remain free to use terminology they judge to be academically appropriate, in line with their professional expertise. There has been no institutional discussion about prohibiting the term “Ancient Palestine”, nor have staff been instructed to frame their teaching in accordance with the views of any external organisation.
Prof David Phoenix
Vice-chancellor, the Open University
