“Professor Watchlist” Goes International

BY HANK REICHMAN Readers of this blog are undoubtedly well aware of the nefarious “Professor Watchlist,” sponsored by the right-wing Turning Point, USA.  The list is but the latest in a long string of blacklisting efforts aimed at silencing faculty members.  It debuted shortly after the 2016 election, claiming to identify professors who promote “leftist…

Add Your Name to the Professor Watchlist!

BY KELLY HAND Yesterday, the AAUP shared with members a petition inviting them to ask to have their names added to the Professor Watchlist, a website that purports to expose faculty who “advance leftist propaganda in the classroom.” To counter these alarmist accusations, we will include the names of all who sign the AAUP petition–open to nonmembers also–in an…

The "Professor Watchlist" of the 1930s

BY JOERG TIEDE In 1934, conservative political activist Elizabeth Dilling published The Red Network—A Who’s Who and Handbook of Radicalism for Patriots. The book enumerated over 460 “radical” organizations and some 1,300 individuals who were members or sympathizers. Among the organizations listed were the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the American Civil Liberties Union. The latter…

Campus Closes After Professor Receives Threats

BY HANK REICHMAN Just days after Professor Dana Cloud of Syracuse University became the object of an organized campaign of right-wing online harassment for a Twitter post, Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, closed its doors today “until further notice” in response to threats made after a professor’s Facebook post attracted attention in right-wing media. “Given…

"Professor Watch List?" Notre Dame Profs Say Sign Us Up!

BY HANK REICHMAN The latest attempt to blacklist dissenting faculty members is the so-called “Professor Watchlist,” a project of a group called Turning Point USA founded by an ambitious twenty-something named Charlie Kirk.  The group’s website says it seeks to “to expose and document college professors who discriminate against conservative students, promote anti-American values and…

Interview with Jonathan Marks, Author of “Let’s Be Reasonable: A Conservative Case for Liberal Education”

BY JOHN K. WILSON The following is an email interview I conducted with Jonathan Marks, the author of the new book being published today titled Let’s Be Reasonable: A Conservative Case for Liberal Education (Princeton University Press). Marks is a professor of politics at Ursinus College, and he will be discussing his book on Thurs.…