Higher Education Events This Summer

How Biased Are the Campuses? A Debate in DC
How biased are the campuses? A debate between John K. Wilson & Mal Kline, Executive Director, Accuracy in Academia (AIA)
Thursday, June 14, 2012, 6-8 PM
The Van Andel Center, The Heritage Foundation, 214 Massachusetts Ave., NE, Washington, DC.
The event is free but please RSVP mal.kline@academia.org or call (202)364-3085 so that we can get a head count for free pizza.

AAUP Annual Conference on the State of Higher Education
When: June 13–17, 2012
Where: Mayflower Renaissance Washington DC Hotel
Visit the conference website for details on registration, and here’s the pdf of the program.

I’ll be presenting at a few sessions at the conference, including on Wednesday, June 13 at 2pm on decentralizing AAUP academic freedom investigations and on June 13 at 3:45pm on the 1960 case of Leo Koch, the University of Illinois professor fired for his controversial writings.

AAUP Summer Institute
Roosevelt University
Chicago, Illinois
July 26–29, 2012

CGEU Conference
The Coalition of Graduate Employee Unions (CGEU) 2012 conference hosted in Vancouver the weekend of August 2-4. The event will be hosted at the University of British Columbia’s Vancouver campus, and will offer workshops, guest speakers, and seminars on a host of union-related topics. Check out the facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/?ref=tn_tnmn#!/events/446732172023556/

COCAL X Conference
Attend the tenth annual Conference of Contingent Academic Labor (COCAL X),  August 9–12, 2012. COCAL is being held in Mexico, at the National Autonomous University in Mexico City. For more information on the conference, including information on travel, accommodations, and how to register, visit the COCAL website.

Founded in 1996, COCAL exists to promote “the collective achievement of job reliability, livable wages, academic freedom, and time and resources for academic research and professional development for contingent academic laborers.” The conference, of which the AAUP is a cosponsor along with many other individuals and groups, is held every two years. COCAL also maintains a listserv; sign up at http://adj-l.org/mailman/listinfo/adj-l_adj-l.org.

Topics to be discussed at COCAL X include: union rights and organizing; employment rights like tenure and benefits; diversity; relationship of faculty to students, administrators, and other campus workers; political rights; and more. In addition to paper presentations, workshops, and plenary sessions, registration also includes cultural shows and museum visits. There are limited scholarship funds available for attendees who would not otherwise be able to participate; an application form can be found on the COCAL website.