Dr. Jonathan (“Jon”) Rieder is Professor of Sociology at Barnard College and Columbia University. As a sociologist and public intellectual, Dr. Rieder has long explored contested topics on American race, culture, and identity. His books on Martin Luther King Jr., such as Gospel of Freedom and The Word of the Lord Is Upon Me, reflect a deep historical scholarship and a commitment to grappling with moral and rhetorical struggles in political life.
In 2021, Dr. Rieder became the target of a title IX complaint initiated by three Barnard College students for quoting the N-word when discussing a scene in the movie 8 Mile in his Culture in America class, which was conducted over zoom. Although Barnard found that Dr. Rieder’s expression did not meet the threshold for discriminatory harassment, the university canceled his class because of concerns about the “negative attention” it had drawn. Dr. Rieder did not back down and, with support from FIRE, managed to maintain his class and protect it from administrator interference. Dr. Rieder continued to write and speak about his experience, and has over the past years been a Columbia Academic Freedom Council co-chair.
For his courageous defense of scholarly and pedagogical academy, the Columbia Academic Freedom Council is honored to present Dr. Jonathan Rieder with the 2025 Academic Freedom Award.
