BY BRIAN C. MITCHELL MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts speculated recently about whether there was enough soap in America to wash off the mud splattered by the dirty, depressing, and uninspired efforts by both presidential candidates to win votes. A week ago, we answered the question of who will lead us over the next four years. With…
POSTED BY HENRY REICHMAN The following statement, signed by over 150 historians of Judaism, was published yesterday by the Jewish Journal. As scholars of Jewish history, we are acutely attuned to the fragility of democracies and the consequences for minorities when democracies fail to live up to their highest principles. The United States has a…
BY AARON BARLOW When the retiring Chancellor of a university system is able to negotiate for himself a new position as Chancellor Emeritus worth some $3,000.000, questions of the integrity of the institution should be raised. At the City University of New York (CUNY) this happened three-and-a-half years ago, but only now is a new…
BY KELLY HAND Several AAUP chapters have issued statements dealing with the presidential election and its repercussions on higher ed. The University of Connecticut-AAUP issued a statement supporting a statement made last week by the AAUP and the AAUP Collective Bargaining Congress. The chapter affirms its “longstanding commitment to inclusiveness, democracy, and academic freedom and…
POSTED BY MARTIN KICH Daniel Radosh, the head writer for the Daily Show, sent the following note along with a signed permission slip that would permit his son to read Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451 as part of a school book club: “I love this letter! What a wonderful way to introduce students to the theme…
BY HANK REICHMAN For some time now the AAUP and many others have decried the growing privatization of our public colleges and universities and the corporatization of management styles at both public and private institutions. The horrendous costs of these trends have become ever more apparent in the skyrocketing tuition bills and ballooning debt burden…
BY HANK REICHMAN The continuing assault on academic freedom in Turkey, which began last spring and intensified after the failed July coup attempt, continues. (For previous coverage on this blog go here.) According to Scholars at Risk, “On October 29, 2016, Turkish authorities issued a decree ordering the dismissal of 1,267 academic personnel, and the…
BY CHRISTOPHER NEWFIELD The following piece is reposted with permission from Remaking the University, a blog sponsored by Michael Meranze, professor of history at UCLA, and Christopher Newfield, professor of English at UC Santa Barbara. It’s tempting to see higher education as a sideshow in the upheaval that Donald J. Trump’s election presents for every…
BY KELLY HAND The November–December issue of Academe, now available on the AAUP website, considers the racial climate on campuses from a variety of perspectives. Guest edited by Donna Young, the magazine’s articles seem all the more relevant in the aftermath of an election that heightened concerns about increasing racial polarization in American society. Many student protests on…
BY HANK REICHMAN For some time now colleges and universities across the country have been roiled by debates over so-called “safe spaces.” On one side stand those who argue that many members of the higher education community, especially various minorities, need “safe spaces” free from potentially harassing behavior and verbal abuse. Sometimes they have gone…