A special guest post by Dr. Bilinda Straight, Professor of Anthropology Western Michigan University I recently revisited press coverage of the 2010 union win for faculty in anthropology and other disciplines at Florida State University, where an arbitrator reversed the termination of 21 tenured faculty members earlier that year, ruling that the firings had violated the…
BY HANK REICHMAN In the wake of embarrassing revelations about the astronomical sums paid to campus chancellors for “service” on corporate boards that may involve conflicts of interest, the University of California faced another embarrassment when the Dean of the Law School at Berkeley resigned yesterday amid a sexual harassment scandal. Sujit Choudhry’s resignation as…
BY MARTIN KICH In an election cycle marked by unprecedented offensiveness, crassness, and obtuseness, this tweet from opponents of Tammy Duckworth’s senatorial candidacy in Illinois manages to descend to a new low point on all three counts: During her military service as a helicopter pilot in Iraq, Tammy Duckworth lost both of her legs. This…
The following piece was written by Brett Mandel and published on his personal blog. It is re-posted here with his permission. _________________________ As an undergrad a quarter-century ago, I would have certainly told you that such a future outcome was as unlikely as Alexander Hamilton, himself, being the subject of a smash-hit rap musical. Today,…
BY AARON BARLOW On January 26, I posted Professor Rob Latham’s statement concerning his possible firing to the University of California Board of Regents. Though tenured, he was fired. There has been great interest in Latham’s statement (as can be seen in the comments). In response, and after what I’ve heard was a contentious meeting,…
BY AARON BARLOW On January 20, the University of California Board of Regents took the incredibly rare step of dismissing a tenured professor for cause, a sanction that has occurred only a handful of times in the University’s history. Rob Latham, Professor of English at UC Riverside, was dismissed, over the recommendation of the UCR…
BY KELLY HAND Two articles in the new January-February 2016 issue of Academe urge faculty to consider their ethical obligations within and beyond their academic communities. In her article, “Liberal Arts in the Modern University,” Lorna Fitzsimmons discusses the liberal arts as an antidote for social change and fragmentation. Offering the example of identity theft…
The theme for the current issue of Academe, “Media and the Faculty,” was selected to encourage us to get more involved in the public debates surrounding higher education. As I write in my “From the Editor” column: we have to become our own advocates. Joining the AAUP, of course, is a first step, but each of…