Gilead · Academic repression

Gilead

Academic repression


Fig. 1. “The Evolution of Intellectual Freedom.” Comic by Jorge Cham, 2011, via Episyllogism[1] fair use.

On principle, I hate when politicians meddle in education. Between neoliberals and white Christian nationalists, it seems like the answer is almost always in some way a diminution of academic freedom, an increased emphasis on job training (i.e. preparation for serfdom), more adjuncts, and an emphasis on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM, i.e. the development of new ways for the rich to extract wealth from the rest of us) at direct expense to the humanities and social sciences.

Peter Schmidt, “U. of Illinois Board’s Denial of Job to Salaita Is Unlikely to Quell Controversy,” Chronicle of Higher Education, September 11, 2014, https://www.chronicle.com/article/u-of-illinois-boards-denial-of-job-to-salaita-is-unlikely-to-quell-controversy/

Scott Jaschik, “Another Lost Job for Salaita,” Inside Higher Ed, April 14, 2016, https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/04/14/reports-circulate-american-beirut-has-blocked-permanent-appointment

Fernanda Zamudio-Suaréz, “American U. of Beirut Denies That It Blocked Center’s Hiring of Salaita,” Chronicle of Higher Education, April 14, 2016, http://chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/american-u-of-beirut-denies-that-it-blocked-centers-hiring-of-salaita/110386

Bob Lane, “Academic Freedom,” Episyllogism, November 3, 2016, https://boblane.com/2016/11/03/academic-freedom/

Megan Zahneis, “His University Celebrated His Success. Then It Fired Him,” Chronicle of Higher Education, December 17, 2020, https://www.chronicle.com/article/his-university-celebrated-his-success-then-it-fired-him

Len Gutkin, “Shared Psychosis; Academic Psychiatry; Academic Freedom,” Chronicle of Higher Education, April 5, 2021, https://www.chronicle.com/newsletter/chronicle-review/2021-04-05

Len Gutkin, “Nikole Hannah-Jones and the Eclipse of Faculty Autonomy; the CDC and Paranoia,” Chronicle of Higher Education, May 24, 2021, https://www.chronicle.com/newsletter/chronicle-review/2021-05-24

Jack Stripling, “‘What the Hell Happened?,’” Chronicle of Higher Education, June 11, 2021, https://www.chronicle.com/article/what-the-hell-happened

Jon Allsop, “On NHJ, UNC, and CRT,” Columbia Journalism Review, June 25, 2021, https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/nikole_hannah_jones_unc_tenure.php

Jack Stripling, “‘Look Us in the Eye,’” Chronicle of Higher Education, July 1, 2021, https://www.chronicle.com/article/look-us-in-the-eye

Lauren Lumpkin and Nick Anderson, “Nikole Hannah-Jones to join Howard faculty after UNC tenure controversy,” Washington Post, July 6, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/07/06/howard-nikole-hannah-jones-tanehisi-coates/

Tahirah Walker, “Higher education and I are going through a break-up, a conscious uncoupling, a disentanglement,” Public Source, July 8, 2021, https://www.publicsource.org/higher-education-pittsburgh-perspective/

Brendan Cantwell, “The Culture War Has Come for Higher Ed,” Chronicle of Higher Education, July 12, 2021, https://www.chronicle.com/article/the-culture-war-has-come-for-higher-ed

Timothy Bella, “Cornel West says in resignation letter over tenure dispute that Harvard is in ‘decline and decay,’” Washington Post, July 13, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/07/13/cornel-west-harvard-tenure-resignation/

Megan Zahneis, “Cornel West’s Resignation Letter Cites ‘Decline and Decay’ at Harvard Divinity School,” Chronicle of Higher Education, July 13, 2021, https://www.chronicle.com/article/cornel-wests-resignation-letter-cites-decline-and-decay-at-harvard-divinity-school

Megan Zahneis, “Scholar Who Claimed He Was Fired for Speaking Out Settles With U. of Mississippi,” Chronicle of Higher Education, July 29, 2021, https://www.chronicle.com/article/scholar-who-claimed-he-was-fired-for-speaking-out-settles-with-u-of-mississippi

Andrew Jeong, “University of Florida bars faculty from testifying in voting rights lawsuit against DeSantis administration,” Washington Post, October 30, 2021, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/10/30/florida-voting-rights-desantis-lawsuit/

Lindsay Ellis, “After Scathing Criticism, U. of Florida Will Let Professors Testify Against the State,” Chronicle of Higher Education, November 5, 2021, https://www.chronicle.com/article/after-scathing-criticism-u-of-florida-will-let-professors-testify-against-the-state

Jack Stripling, “Blasting U. of Florida, Judge Says Professors’ Testimony Can’t Be Blocked,” Chronicle of Higher Education, January 21, 2022, https://www.chronicle.com/article/blasting-u-of-florida-judge-says-professors-testimony-cant-be-blocked

Emma Whitford, “Florida Could Make Switching Accreditors Mandatory,” Inside Higher Ed, February 11, 2022, https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2022/02/11/florida-bill-would-require-colleges-change-accreditors

Tim Craig, “Florida Legislature passes bill that limits how schools and workplaces teach about race and identity,” Washington Post, March 10, 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/03/10/florida-legislature-passes-anti-woke-bill/

Ellen Schrecker, “The 50-Year War on Higher Education,” Chronicle of Higher Education, October 14, 2022, https://www.chronicle.com/article/the-50-year-war-on-higher-education

Jack Stripling, “Channeling Orwell, Judge Blasts Florida’s ‘Dystopian’ Ban on ‘Woke’ Instruction,” Chronicle of Higher Education, November 17, 2022, https://www.chronicle.com/article/conjuring-orwell-florida-judge-blasts-dystopian-ban-on-woke-instruction

Julian Roberts-Grmela, “9 Liberal-Arts Majors Are on the Chopping Block at Marymount U.,” Chronicle of Higher Education, February 17, 2023, https://www.chronicle.com/article/9-humanities-majors-are-on-the-chopping-block-at-marymount-u

Fernanda Zamudio-Suarez, “What Does ‘Woke’ Mean Anyway?” Chronicle of Higher Education, February 21, 2023, https://www.chronicle.com/newsletter/race-on-campus/2023-02-21

Nick Anderson, “Marymount University cuts English, several other majors,” Washington Post, February 24, 2023, https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/02/24/marymount-university-humanities-majors-eliminated/

Francie Diep, “‘Never Seen Anything Like It’: New Bill Would Write DeSantis’s Higher-Ed Vision Into Law,” Chronicle of Higher Education, February 24, 2023, https://www.chronicle.com/article/never-seen-anything-like-it-new-bill-would-write-desantiss-higher-ed-vision-into-law

Megan Zahneis, “A Florida Professor Lost His Job After Complaints About His Lessons on Racial Justice,” Chronicle of Higher Education, March 17, 2023, https://www.chronicle.com/article/a-florida-professor-lost-his-job-after-complaints-about-his-lessons-on-racial-justice

  1. [1]Bob Lane, “Academic Freedom,” Episyllogism, November 3, 2016, https://boblane.com/2016/11/03/academic-freedom/↩