Inside Higher Ed: Fact-checking Horowitz
From the moment in February that David Horowitz’s new book appeared, scholars have been poking at it, identifying errors and what they consider to be distortions (even as Horowitz was praised by many conservative talk show hosts, who have helped him boost sales).
Today, a coalition of academic and civil liberties groups is releasing a more detailed analysis of the Horowitz book,The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America. In “Facts Count,” the debunking document being released today, Horowitz’s book is slammed as “sloppy in the extreme.” The analysis also says that the details included in the book suggest that Horowitz is not concerned with the students he says he is trying to protect, but is actually trying to punish professors whose views he doesn’t like.
Among the findings in “Facts Count”:
- Horowitz does not cite a single example of a student having his or her grade changed because of political views — despite his repeated statements that the “Academic Bill of Rights” is needed to prevent such grade punishment. (That bill would bar such grade changes and would also require that a range of views be taught — a measure many professors say would require them to teach intelligent design or Holocaust denial, or risk getting sued.)
- In 52 of the descriptions of professors Horowitz critiques, he does not cite a single classroom event or statement — despite his statement that his concern about professors is over what they do and say in the classroom.
- Of all of the evidence offered in the book, 80 percent concerns non-classroom activities.
- Professors who teach women’s studies or other alternative viewpoints are consistently criticized, regardless of the quality of their work or scholarship.
- While Horowitz’s book promises a list of the 101 most dangerous academics, he actually includes only 100.
- Quotes and facts from Horowitz about individual professors are incorrect and many quotes are “wildly out of context.”
Follow
