Critical Education is proud to be the sponsor journal for Critical Theories in the 21st Century
4th annual:
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Critical Education is proud to be the sponsor journal for Critical Theories in the 21st Century
4th annual:
|
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Posted in CFPs, Conferences, Corporate University, Critical University Studies, Economics, Equity, Events, For Profit Universities, Politics, Publications, Research
Tagged anarchism, anti-capitalism, capitalism, CFP, CFPs, Conferences, Critical pedagogy, post-structuralism, postmodernism, West Chester University
CTV, January 5, 2015–Four Dalhousie professors have gone public with a formal complaint they submitted to the university last month, which called for male dentistry students linked to a sexually explicit Facebook discussion to be suspended before classes resume on Monday.
One of the professors, Francoise Baylis, said they decided to go public because they haven’t yet been assured that the complaint has been properly submitted and whether it will be addressed.
“Students have to go back to school tomorrow morning, and in our view, the university has an obligation to provide all students with a safe and supportive learning environment,” Baylis, who teaches at Dalhousie’s medical school, told CTV Atlantic.
“Our view is that it’s important to have at least addressed the complaint prior to the students coming back.”
The formal complaint from Dec. 21 calls for the university to hand out suspensions to all fourth-year students who were allegedly involved in offensive posts discussing female students in the Faculty of Dentistry. The complaint is co-signed by Baylis and fellow Dalhousie professors Jocelyn Downie, Brian Noble and Jacqueline Warwick.
“The purpose of the Complaint was to trigger an interim suspension prior to the start of classes on Monday, January 5, 2015,” the professors said in a statement emailed to CTVNews.ca on Sunday.
The complaint cites a number of posts allegedly made by fourth-year students in the Facebook group called “Class of DDS 2015 Gentlemen.”
One poster reportedly joked about using chloroform to render a woman unconscious. Another asked members which female students they would like to have “hate sex” with. A third post showed a photo of a woman in a bikini with the caption: “bang until stress is relieved or unconscious (girl).”
The formal complaint matches these allegations up to violations under the school’s Code of Student Conduct. It says offending students should be suspended because they “pose a threat of disruption or interference with the operations of the University and the activities of its members.”
Baylis said the formal process was engaged because some of the affected female students either did not consent to, or were not approached about the informal “restorative justice” approach the university decided to take.
On Dec. 17, university president Richard Florizone said administrators were looking into informal complaints by women who were subjects of the offensive posts. He also left the door open to a formal complaint process if the affected women chose to pursue it.
“I ask for our communities to give our students and university administrators the time to complete their work through the restorative justice process and forge meaningful, responsible outcomes,” Florizone said in a statement.
“Our overall response must also address cultures of sexism, misogyny and sexualized violence,” he added.
Baylis said the offensive Facebook posts require both an individual and a “systemic” response.
“All of us believe that we’re at a very unique cultural moment in time where we’re actually able to name the problem publicly, to call this misogyny, to talk about gendered violence,” she said.
Read more: CTV
Statement from faculty members who brought a complaint under Dalhousie University’s Code of
Student Conduct re: the “Class of DDS 2015 Gentlemen”
We are at a distinct cultural moment in which real change with respect to misogyny and gendered violence is possible.
Events involving the “Class of DDS 2015 Gentlemen” create a complex situation demanding thoughtful, sensitive responses from a variety of perspectives using a variety of procedural tools.
We ground our engagement with this situation in commitments to:
President Florizone has committed to responding to the specific incident within the Faculty of Dentistry and to seeking strategies for meaningful long-term change. Our formal Complaint is an effort to contribute constructively to the comprehensive response required.
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Posted in Academic freedom, Accountability, Administration, Advocacy, Campus Life, Ethics, Events, Protests, Solidarity, Student Movement, Students, Working conditions
Tagged Administration, Equity, Ethics, Faculty, Protests, Students, Working conditions
TAKE BACK THE NIGHT
UBC RALLY AND MARCH SPEAK OUT
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 30, 2013
5 PM
University of British Columbia, Vancouver
Unceded Coast Salish Territories
We will march to specific locations on campus, briefly state how the location relates to persisting rape culture on campus (with reference to its colonial history), and have an ongoing open mic for people to speak about their experiences. We march to heal, resist, and speak out (side note: if you have knowledge about the histories of these locations or would want to speak to them please contact us, we need your help here).
If you are unsure of speaking at the march/rally about your experiences with rape culture at UBC, PLEASE understand that you will be supported and heard. You will not be standing alone at any point, this march/rally is for those of you who are constantly silenced and harmed at this school. Take Back the Night is for you to reclaim voice in spaces that keep trying to suppress it, spaces keeping you unsafe.
If you want to speak at the march/
This TBTN event places great emphasis on history—both personal and societal. The march/rally will be a highly emotional and potentially triggering event; we will have crisis relief support for those who need it.
*very* rough schedule based on suggested locations (still working on security and accessibility):
5:00 Museum of Anthropology, Opening
5:40 Place Vanier Residence
6:10 Henry Angus Building (Sauder)
6:50 Fraternity Village
7:15 RCMP Campus Headquarters
7:40 Thunderbird Sports Centre
8:00 Engineering
8:25 Allard Hall (Law Building), Closing
8:30 Debriefing Space and Discussion, SUB 212, for female and woman identified people
UBC, CAMPUS SECURITY, AND THE RCMP: STOP BLAMING THE VICTIMS AND SURVIVORS OF SEXUAL ASSAULT!
Read More: Take Back the Night Rally at UBC in Protest of Six Recent Sexual Assaults on Vancouver Campus
AP/ Civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., waves to supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial 28 August, 1963, on The Mall in Washington, DC, upon giving the ‘I Have a Dream’ speech.
The King Center, July 16, 2013– The King Center and the 50th Anniversary Coalition are calling on people and organizations across America to help culminate the 50th anniversary of The March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech with “Let Freedom Ring” bell-ringing events at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on August 28th, a half-century to the minute after Dr. King delivered his historic address. In other nations, there will be bell-ringing ceremonies at 3:00 p.m. in their respective time zones.
“We are calling on people across America and throughout the world to join with us as we pause to mark the 50th anniversary of my father’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech with ‘Let Freedom Ring’ bell-ringing events and programs that affirm the unity of people of all races, religions and nations,” said King Center C.E.O. Bernice A. King. “My father concluded his great speech with a call to ‘Let freedom ring,’ and that is a challenge we will meet with a magnificent display of brotherhood and sisterhood in symbolic bell-ringing at places of worship, schools and other venues where bells are available from coast to coast and continent to continent.”
Local groups are encouraged to present diverse commemorative programs, which bring people together across cultural and political lines to celebrate the common humanity in creative and uplifting ways in the spirit of the dream. Ms. King especially urges that all of the programs involve children and young people, since children are mentioned in several passages of her father’s “I Have a Dream” speech.
There will be a “Let Freedom Ring” Commemoration & Call to Action” on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on August 28th. The program begins with an interfaith service from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial on the Tidal Basin, followed by the “Let Freedom Ring” Commemoration and Call to Action at the nearby Lincoln Memorial from 1:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. that includes the bell-ringing ceremony at 3:00 p.m.
Groups are already planning bell-ringing events in places as diverse as Concord, New Hampshire, Allentown PA, Lutry Switzerland and Tokyo Japan. Governors of the 50 states have been asked to support the bell-ringing, and many have already responded enthusiastically, with more expected to join the effort. The King Center requests that all groups planning programs submit a brief description of your 50th anniversary ‘Let Freedom Ring’ bell-ringing event to website@thekingcenter.org.
“Let Freedom Ring” will conclude seven-days of events commemorating the March on Washington and Dr. King’s Dream speech. For the millions who can’t come to Washington, D.C. for the seven-day program, the local ‘Let Freedom Ring’ programs will provide a unique opportunity to get involved in a poignant nation-wide and global day of unity in their respective home towns.
“Our World, His Dream: Freedom – Make it Happen” is the theme for the “Let Freedom Ring” commemoration and call to action. This theme is undergirded by the three sub-themes: “Freedom to Prosper in Life;” “Freedom to Peacefully Co-Exist;” and “Freedom to Participate in Government.”
For more information about the 50th Anniversary of the I Have A Dream speech, please contact The King Center (Atlanta, GA) at 404-526-8944, sklein@thekingcenter.org or visit the websitewww.mlkdream50.com. To stay in touch with updated details, participate with the following: Twitter twitter.com/DCMARCHMLK50; Facebook www.facebook.com/Mlkdream50; Pinterest pinterest.com/mlkdream50/; and Intstagram mlkdream50. The Hashtag is #mlkdream50.
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Posted in Accountability, Advocacy, Diversity, Equity, Ethics, Events, Government, Human Rights, Organizing, Politics, Protests, Race, Solidarity, Students
Tagged Equity, Ethics, Government, Organizing, Protests, Students
Today (January 28) is the first #IdleNoMore World Day of Action, with events and protests planned around the globe and in at least 30 Canadian cities.
This day of action will peacefully protest attacks on Democracy, Indigenous Sovereignty, Human Rights and Environmental Protections when Canadian MPs return to the House of Commons on January 28th. As a grassroots movement, clearly no political organization speaks for Idle No More. This movement is of the people …
INM urges the government of Canada to repeal all legislation; which violates Treaties, Indigenous Sovereignty and subsequently Environmental Protections of land and water.
INM is grateful to many leaders who have supported this vision and the movement of the grassroots people. “The Treaties are the last line of defense to protect water and lands from destruction,” stated Oren Lyons, Faithkeeper Turtle Clan, Onondaga Nation Council of Chiefs.
Here in Vancouver, the rally and Gathering of Nations will begin at 12:00 at the Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada Department office, near the intersection of Melville and Thurlow (1138 Melville st).
At the University of Mannitoba, Buffy Sainte-Marie will speak at the University of Manitoba Tuesday from noon to 2 p.m. about the momentum of the movement as part of the university student union’s annual Week of Celebration. Students and youth from First Nations in Manitoba are walking this weekend along Highway 59 to rally at the Manitoba Legislative Building on Monday at 5 p.m. Sainte-Marie is expected to join the rally and round dance at the Manitoba Legislative Building today. Read more: Winnipeg Free Press
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Posted in Advocacy, Campus Life, Equity, Events, Free speech, Government, Human Rights, Idle No More, Organizing, Protests, Solidarity, Student Movement, Students
Tagged Free speech, Government, Idle No More, Protests, Students
17 January
1:00 – 3:30
Aboriginal Gathering Place at the Canada Education Park campus in Chilliwack
The University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) will host an Idle No More educational forum on January 17 from 1 to 3: 30 p.m. at the Aboriginal Gathering Place at the Canada Education Park campus in Chilliwack.
Speakers include:
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Posted in Advocacy, Campus Life, Equity, Events, Government, Human Rights, Idle No More, Organizing, Solidarity, Student Movement, Students
Tagged Equity, Government, Idle No More, Students
National Post: Campuses awash in tension over Israel apartheid week
As hostilities in Gaza cooled off last month, campuses across Canada were actually heating up in preparation for “Israel Apartheid Week.”
On a dour Sunday afternoon at Toronto’s Ryerson University, left-leaning teachers and students hosted a conference called “Gaza: War? Occupation? Apartheid?”
Date: Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Time: 4:00pm – 6:00pm
Location: 2 W. 13th St. (Parsons building)
Street: 13th and 5th Ave.
Join us from 4-6pm in the Parsons lobby (2. W 13th St.) for our 2nd teach-in on the university. Topics to include:
1. Brief History of University in Exile
2. New School Power structure
3. Brief History of Student Resistance at the new school, & Occupations
4. Demands from NS occupation and their current status 5. Grievances – Parsons focus, New School at large
6. General Discussion and April 1st
7. Civil Disobedience
Announcing the 2nd Annual Education & Labor Collaborative Forum
We welcome your participation in a broad collaboration that hopes to span many universities, schools, unions, and groups in search of positive social and economic change.
The Forum includes a Film Festival on Friday evening, April 24th at Antioch University Los Angeles, (400 Corporate Pointe, Culver City CA) where a special guest is Jono Shaffer, the real organizer whose story is
told in the movie Bread & Roses. Saturday April 25th the Forum moves to the headquarters of United Teachers of Los Angeles, (3303 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles) for a full day of workshops and organizing.
In addition, we are putting together an Education & Labor Collaborative organizing meeting to take place at AERA, date and time to be announced.
To find more information, download a copy of the Forum Flyer, and hopefully register to join us, please visit: http://organizingthecurriculum.org, email me at andisosin@andisosin.com or respond on the website to laboreducator@organizingthecurriculum.org
On behalf of the Forum planning committee
In solidarity,
Adrienne Andi Sosin, Ed.D.
The Chronicle News Blog: Yet Another Political-Science Conference Site Comes Under Scrutiny
As the American Political Science Association prepares to meet in Boston this week, a small network of scholars — including a pair of high-profile social conservatives — is circulating a petition asking the association to think carefully about its plans to meet in Toronto next year.
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Posted in Academic freedom, Events, Protests
Iowa City Press-Citizen; UI prof faces bribery charges
Allegedly asks female students for sexual favors
A University of Iowa professor was arrested Friday afternoon for allegedly asking female students to let him fondle their breasts in return for an “A” grade for the class.
Advertisement
Arthur Herbert Miller, 66, of 1700 N. Dubuque Road, faces four counts of bribery, a class C felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison. He was admitted to the Johnson County Jail at 3:56 p.m. Friday and released early Saturday.
Miller is a professor in the University of Iowa Department of Political Science with an office in Schaeffer Hall.
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Posted in Events
CSDU Meeting, Monday, August 18th, 4:00
Chicago, IL
Parthenon Restaurant, Free Valet
Agenda items:
updates on the trial of the vice president – scheduled to begin on August 19th, AFT Convention
raffle fundraiser tickets distributed to CDSU Members and supporters
1st Prize – Five Days in Las Vegas or Miami (including airfare)
winners’ choice of Thanksgiving, Winter Holidays or Spring Break
2nd and 3d Cash Prizes
Drawing – October 1st
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Posted in Events
Dear Friends and Colleagues –
I am pleased to announce that the How Class Works- 2008 conference program, on-line registration, housing and other information are now available on the conference pages of the Center for Study of Working Class Life at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
The How Class Works – 2008 conference will be at Stony Brook, Thursday – Saturday, June 5 – 7, 2008
Topics Include The color line in the 21st century and the legacy of Theodore W. Allen – single-payer health care – corporate practices in higher education – teaching class – white working class anger in the UK – lessons of the Charleston 5 – class and the legal system – class and religion – labor law and union strategy – plus many more in 54 sessions.
Speakers Confirmedinclude Sam Anderson, Catherine-Mercedes Brillantes Judge, Pedro Caban, Rose Ann DeMoro, Fuat Ercan, Claudia Fegan, Bill Fletcher, Jr., Tami Gold, Elizabeth Hoffman, Sara Jarayaman, Stathis Kouvelakis, Sherry Linkon, Meizhu Lui, Manning Marable, Jack Metzgar, Nelson Motto, Manny Ness, Bertell Ollman, Jeff Perry, Catherine Pouzoulet, Dave Roediger, Andrew Ross, John Russo, Vinny Tirelli, Michelle Tokarczyk, Richard Trumka, Joe Wilson
Plus over 180 presentations in working class studies from graduate students, faculty, union and community activists — from Australia, Canada, France, Greece, Ireland, Lithuania, New Zealand, Nigeria, Turkey, UK, and US — plus film, music, photography, and poetry
See the conference program and register on-line. I look forward to welcoming you to Stony Brook in June.
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Posted in Events
The 8th Tri-national Conference in Defense of Public Education will be held in Los Angeles on April 18-20, 2008. The UTLA (United Teachers’ of Los Angeles), which represents education workers in the K-12 system and is an affiliate of both the NEA and the AFT, will host the conference.
Since NAFTA created new links among Mexico, the U.S. and Canada in 1994, education union activists from the three countries have met at a conference every two to three years. The purpose has been to deepen understanding of the impact of the neo-liberal policies exemplified by NAFTA on public education and to find ways to work together in mutual support of public education in the three countries.
This 8th conference provides another opportunity to join in this process. While the context in each of the three countries is obviously different, we always find that there are also many similarities. The links formed through these conferences have been important in providing mutual solidarity in times of crisis, as well as in expanding knowledge of the realities of education in our neighboring countries.
The conference has generally had speakers from each of the three countries present on common themes, to get a transnational perspective on the issues. Discussion then focuses on looking for the patterns and exploring ideas about common or supportive actions that might be taken in relationship to the issues.
Funding for the conferences has come from two sources. Registration fees have covered costs of translation, since the conferences are conducted in English and Spanish through simultaneous translation. Grants from unions in Canada and the U.S. have provided funding to ensure that a significant number of teachers from Mexico can participate in the conference. If you or your organization is prepared to make a donation, please contact Dan Leahy.
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Posted in Events
From the National Committee to Defend Dissent and Critical Thinking in Academia:
Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week II (April 7-11, 2008)
Their slogan this time is “Stop the Genocide.” Here is
the intro to their new student guide – the full thing
can be downloaded here.
We will of course be having a lot more to say soon
about the latest round of this dangerous campaign to
turn universities into sites of indoctrination:
From October 22 to October 26, 2007, students on more
than 100 campuses across the country hosted speakers,
put on panels, conducted sit-ins and showed
documentary films designed to alert campus communities
to the global threat from Islamo-Fascism, and to
protest the oppression of women in Islam. This spring,
during the week of April 7-11, we will hold another
week of consciousness-raising events. The purpose of
this week and the campaign leading up to it will be:
1) To highlight the genocidal agendas of the
Islamo-fascist crusade; and 2) To make the public
aware of the “soft jihad” – the domestic networks that
fund and provide political support for the agendas of
the jihad, including its armies of terror.
The core of the jihad is its intention to conquer and
force into submission all religions and cultures which
are not its own. It has absorbed the Nazi-virus of
Jew-hatred and seeks as its first goal the
obliteration of the Jewish state, but its agendas
include the obliteration of Christian communities and
all non-Muslim cultures as well.
The focus of our spring campaign will be the
Declaration Against Genocide, which we will ask campus
groups to sign. Specifically we are asking all campus
groups to repudiate the genocidal passage within
Islam’s sacred texts which reads: “The prophet, prayer
and peace be upon him, said: ‘The time [of judgment
and resurrection] will not come until Muslims will
fight the Jews and kill them; until the Jews hide
behind rocks and trees, which will cry: O Muslim!
There is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill
him!’” (Sahih Muslim book 41, no. 6985)
Christians have distanced themselves from far less
ominous passages in their religious tradition because
of the terrible consequences that have flowed from
misguided beliefs.
The terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah are Islamic
parties who have dedicated themselves to the
destruction of the Jews. We are asking campus groups
to condemn Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorist
organizations and to repudiate their Jew-hatred,
including the Hamas charter which says: “Israel will
exist and will continue to exist until Islam will
obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before
it.” Signers of the Declaration will also be asked to
condemn and repudiate the Iranian dictator Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad who has said “The accomplishment of a
world without America and Israel is both possible and
feasible.”
These are hateful doctrines that threaten the lives
not only of Jews, but of Christians and secularists as
well. While Israel is condemned as “the Little Satan,”
America is targeted as “the Great Satan” – the
incarnation of evil. The genocidal hatred of
Islamo-fascists is aimed at all Americans.
We are therefore launching a “Stop the Genocide”
campaign which will be the focus of our activities
this spring and the theme of Islamo-Fascism Awareness
Week on April 7-11. During this campaign, we will be
calling on campus groups to affirm the equal dignity
of all men and women and the right of all people to
live free from violence, intimidation, and coercion.
To carry out the campaign of education and awareness,
we will:
Gather signatures for the Declaration Against
Genocide. Ask campus groups to officially support it.
Host speakers on the topic of Islamo-Fascism and its
genocidal agendas
Show documentaries and feature films including Islam
versus Islam, Suicide Killers, Obsession and Path to
9/11
Hold memorials for the thousands of victims of Islamic
radicals before and after 9/11
Distribute informational literature including the two
pamphlets “Islamo-Fascism On Campus” and “Plan for
Genocide”
As the first Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week
demonstrated, in the present campus climate this
program is bound be controversial. A coalition of
groups with ties to the Islamo-fascist jihad are
likely to protest this educational effort. This spring
Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week will again test
universities’ claims to be politically open and
intellectually diverse. Once again our goal will be to
refute the curriculum of the left, which teaches that
America is the enemy in the war on terror and the
terrorists are “freedom fighters,” and that any
attempt to alert Americans to the dangers they face is
“Islamo-phobia.” Once again our task will be to remind
people that America is the only force in the world
that has the power and the will to confront the threat
of a global Islamo-Fascist state.
We expect that some universities will create
impediments to the planned protests and events, refuse
necessary permits or room reservations, and otherwise
demonstrate their hypocrisy by failing to allow
patriotic students a voice on campus. We hope to be
proven wrong, but past experience counsels otherwise.
The David Horowitz Freedom Center will enlist lawyers
and alumni to help student organizers fight these
battles.
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Posted in Events
Academic Freedom Teach-In at NYU
Freedoms at Risk Conference and Teach-In
http://www.nyu.edu/cas/studentcouncil/events.shtml
* Saturday, February 23, 2008
* Kimmel 4th Floor–Eisner and Lubin Auditorium
* 10:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m.
The CAS Student Council is proud to announce our biggest event of the semester: the First National Teach-In on Freedoms at Risk in America!
Freedoms at Risk is an all-day, educational and interactive event featuring some of our nation’s foremost academics and intellectuals, and students and faculty from both within and outside of the NYU campus. We’ve reserved an entire floor of the Kimmel
Center for Student Life from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 23
for our Political and Academic Freedoms Teach-Ins and our evening Plenum, all of which will be completely open to the public throughout the day!
A number of accomplished and controversial figures in
politics and
academics will be sharing their experiences and
thoughts, and
engaging in discussion and debate with audience
members, including
(in alphabetical order):
* Norman Finkelstein, noted academic who has held
faculty
positions at NYU, Rutgers University, and DePaul
University where he
was recently a victim of academic repression, and
author of five
books including the international best-seller The
Holocaust Industry:
Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering,
which has been
translated into twenty-four foreign languages
* Barbara Foley, Professor of English at Rutgers
University –
Newark Campus, Chair of the “Combatting Racism Task
Force of Now” –
New Jersey Chapter, and author of such works as
Spectres of 1919:
Class and Nationalism in the Making of the New Negro
* John Gerassi, a professor of the Queens
Political Science
Department who has written a number of books on
politics and
international affairs including an official biography
on Jean-Paul
Sartre
* Peter N. Kirstein, a professor of history at
Chicago’s Saint
Xavier University, author, and a nationally-recognized
advocate of
academic freedom and free-speech rights who has been
profiled in
conservative writer David Horowitz’s book, The
Professors: The 101
Most Dangerous Academics in America
* Mark Crispin Miller, currently a media studies
professor at
NYU who is active in his support of democratic media
reform; he is
also an accomplished author and has written such books
as Fooled
Again, How the Right Stole the 2004 Elections and
Seeing Through Movies
* Bertell Ollman, a Professor of Politics at NYU
and two-time
victim of academic repression (University of Maryland
and University
of the West Indies, Jamaica), who has written Dance of
the Dialectic:
Steps in Marx’s Method and many other works
* Andrew Ross, Chair of the Department of Social
and Cultural
Analysis at NYU, President of the NYU Chapter of the
American
Association of University Professors, and writer who
has authored
such pieces as The Chicago Gangster Theory of Life
* Abby Scher, a sociologist and writer who has
conducted
extensive research on the politics of the McCarthy
period, and has
most recently written about the abuses of freedoms by
law enforcement
agents on a local level; she is currently writing
pieces on the
concept of Islamofascism and the hysteria in the
American public that
it induces
* Ellen Schrecker, Professor of History at
Yeshiva University,
the former editor of “Academe” (the magazine of the
American
Association of University Professors), the first ever
winner of the
Academic Freedom Fellowship from NYU’s Tamiment
Library, and author
of No Ivory Tower: McCarthyism and the Universities,
and other works
* Michael Steven Smith, a New York City attorney
and author who
recently edited The Emerging Police State by William
Kunstler, sits
on the Executive Board of the Center for
Constitutional Rights, and
co-hosts the WBAI radio program Law and Disorder with
Michael Ratner
and Heidi Boghosian
* Lynne Stewart, a widely recognized political
activist and
attorney who is noted for representing unpopular
clients, and has
experienced extensive recent political oppression; an
advocate of the
constitutional right to due process of law, she fights
to see that
right extended to anyone who is tried within the
American legal system
* Lorie Van Auken, winner of the Glamour Magazine
“Woman of the
Year” award in 2004 for her work with the other
“Jersey Girls” in
successfully lobbying for an independent investigation
into the
events of September 11, 2001
* Richard D. Wolff, Professor of Economics at the
University of
Massachusetts – Amherst Campus, co-founder of the
political journal
Re-thinking Marxism, and co-author of Knowledge and
Class: a Marxian
Critique of Political Economy among other works
We’re thrilled to have these speakers joining us for
our Teach-In,
and we eagerly await the date. There is no charge, and
refreshments
will be served! Join us for this momentous,
precedent-setting event
in academics and politics!
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Posted in Academic freedom, Events
“Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week” – Expose & Defeat This
Reactionary Offensive
From The National Project to Defend Dissent and
Critical Thinking in Academia
www.defendcriticalthinking.org
David Horowitz has announced “Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week” (IFAW) for October 22-26, to take place on campuses around the country. Horowitz has enlisted
some of the most extreme, and dangerous, ideologues as spokespeople, and is working with Christian fundamentalists, military and veteran’s groups, and
the entire range of conservative and reactionary student organizations in an attempt to hold what he says will be the largest conservative university protest in US history.
This is a move to deepen the already serious chill in
academia by bringing together an aggressive social
base and unleashing it on what Horowitz calls the
“tenured left.” It seeks to unleash a pogromist and
hate-filled atmosphere against Muslim students, equate
dissent and critical thinking with treason, attack
Women’s Studies Departments, and build the US “will to
fight” more wars of aggression in the Middle East,
particularly against Iran. It hypocritically claims to
oppose the oppression of women and gays under Islamic
rule, while promoting Christian fundamentalists who
want to outlaw not only abortion but birth control as
well, and argue that homosexuality is a sin punishable
by death and women should not work outside the home.
IFAW cannot be allowed to go down unchallenged. It
needs to be thoroughly exposed, repudiated and
politically defeated. Go to www.terrorismawareness.org
for Horowitz’s plans and the list of schools targeted
– and visit www.defendcriticalthinking.org for
analysis and resources for combatting Horowitz and his
dangerous allies.
How DARE these people parade as anti-fascist?!
Anyone familiar with Horowitz and his allies can only
respond with outrage to their claim to be opponents of
fascism, intolerance and bigotry.
How dare David Horowitz, who says that Blacks should
be grateful for slavery and that Blacks owe a debt to
whites for ending slavery, talk about the “right of
all people to live in freedom and dignity”?!
How dare Ann Coulter, who said of Muslims, “We should
invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert
them to Christianity,” masquerade as an opponent of
“all forms of religious supremacism, violence and
intimidation”?!
How dare Rick Santorum, who equates homosexuality with
bestiality and openly advocates the revoking of
women’s right to abortion and birth control, parade as
a defender of the rights of women and gays?!
“Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week:” An Avalanche of Lies,
Distortions, Bigotry and Hate.
• Horowitz claims that IFAW will confront the “Big
Lie” that George Bush created the “war on terror:”
If Bush was just responding to 911, why did he target
and invade a country that had nothing to do with it?
Why did he lie about WMDs to justify that aggression
and why is he now threatening another country, Iran,
that also had nothing to do with 9/11? And for
decades, the US and Israel have destroyed secular
governments and forces in the Middle East and
elsewhere, while actively supporting Islamic
fundamentalist forces, as in Afghanistan. In Iran, the
US overthrow of the elected government of Iran in 1953
and the decades of support for the brutal regime of
the Shah contributed to the conditions which gave rise
to Islamic fundamentalist rule there.
• “A major theme of the Week will be the oppression of
women in Islam.”
The speakers for IFAW include some of the strongest
supporters of the Bush administration, whose policies
have been catastrophic for women, both here and
internationally. Horowitz’s speakers for IFAW include
biblical literalists like Frank Pastore who uphold the
execution of gays and the equation of abortion with
murder. It’s notable that the IFAW petition includes
the demand for “The equality of dignity of women and
men.” Not equality, but the “equality of dignity” – a
meaningless phrase which can be twisted to fit the
most patriarchal of viewpoints.
• IFAW will feature sit-ins “designed to protest the …
silence of Women’s Studies departments in the face of
… Islamic gynophobia:”
Women’s Studies Departments have hardly been “silent”
on the treatment of women (or gays and lesbians) under
Islamic fundamentalism. Horowitz’s problem with
Women’s Studies Departments is not their supposed
“silence” but the simple fact that they exist. His
website is full of rants directed against Women’s
Studies professors. Part of his overall agenda is the
elimination of Women’s Studies, along with Ethnic
Studies, Social Work, Social Justice, and other
programs which arose out of the struggles of the 60s
and 70s. And without Women’s Studies departments and
the feminist struggles which gave rise to them, people
like Horowitz would not even be giving hypocritical
lip-service to the oppression of women anywhere.
• Horowitz says that IFAW only targets
“Islamo-Fascists,” not “non-radical muslims:”
IFAW is an explicit attempt to demonize and isolate
Muslims in this country. Horowitz identifies the
Muslim Student Association as a front organization of
the Islamo-Fascist jihad intent on world domination,
and demands that they sign his petition or be branded
as “the enemy.” IFAW speakers like Gregory Davis say
that “Islam and its faithful adherents are trying to
undermine our secular governments with the ultimate
aim of replacing them with Sharia. Terrorism is a
means to this end as are Islamic proselytizing,
fund-raising, lobbying, education, etc.” Horowitz has
also said that “the Palestinians” (not some of them,
or just the radical ones, but all of them, including
those who are not Muslim) “are part of the
Islamo-fascist jihad against the West.”
• IFAW’s Petition demands “The right of all people to
live free from violence, intimidation, and coercion:”
This, from people who are clamoring for war against
Iran, who support Israel’s policies of military
occupation, targeted assassinations and collective
punishment; who support a government which is
responsible for the deaths hundreds of thousands of
Iraqi civilians, which has engaged in, advocated and
legalized torture, established a secret prison system,
engaged in widespread and illegal spying, and gutted
habeas corpus and other basic civil liberties?
• IFAW’s Petition supports “The freedom of the
individual conscience: to change religions or have no
religion at all.”
IFAW speakers include Christian fundamentalists who
believe that anyone who does not share their literal
interpretation of the Bible will go to hell. Rick
Santorum, one of the main speakers for IFAW, has said
in order to win against “Islamo-Fascism, “We must
educate, engage, evangelize and eradicate … We need to
do more, as I said, to spread these ideas throughout
your campuses.”
• And more, from Horowitz’s Frontpage.com
John Perazzo, who wrote “Why IFAW is Needed” for
Horowitz’s frontpage.com, also wrote “Black Racism and
‘The Jena Six.'” He called the Jena 6 a “pack of
thugs” and “raging predators,” and says the real
problem is “black racism, a disturbingly widespread
phenomenon in contemporary America” – while the
hanging of nooses from a “whites only” tree (in 2006!)
is simply “a dumb (non-violent) prank by a bunch of
teenage idiots.”
Some suggestions on what can be done.
• Call a meeting (immediately!), to discuss why IFAW
is so dangerous, and to make plans to oppose it.
Approach progressive political groups, feminist and
Women’s Studies Departments, GLBT groups, Muslim
student organizations and faculty. Reject the terms of
debate set by Horowitz: opposing IFAW does not mean
supporting terrorism or Islamic fundamentalism.
• Defend professors, Muslim student groups and Women’s
Studies Departments, which are under attack.
• Challenge organizers and speakers of IFAW at every
opportunity with facts and truth.
• Hold public forums by faculty and others.
• Saturate campuses with flyers and posters, exposing
Horowitz, IFAW and what it’s all about.
• Submit resolutions opposing IFAW to faculty and
student senates.
• Write op-eds, place ads, and give interviews to
campus and other media.
• Share material (flyers, graphics, posters, articles,
etc.) with others. Send them to the National Project
to Defend Dissent and Critical Thinking in Academia
(www.defendcriticalthinking.org). Share your
experience and plans, send us reports and updates on
your activities, discussions, and plans, so that
others around the country can learn from them.
____________________________________________________________________________________
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The New York Times: Virginia Tech Shooting Kills at Least 22
At least 22 people were killed today, some of them students, and about two dozen more injured during shootings at Virginia Tech, some of them in a classroom, the police said. A gunman was also shot to death, officials said.
The attack was the deadliest campus shooting in American history. According to several news agencies, the death toll continued to climb and could be as high 32.
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Indiana Daily Student: Illinois professors sue over ethics exam
Two Southern Illinois University-Carbondale professors and the faculty union filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Illinois’ inspector general, demanding the state drop possible discipline over an ethics exam that 159 university employees failed in the fall.
The suit — filed against Inspector General James Wright and the Executive Ethics Commission — claims the state acted illegally by threatening to discipline faculty members who failed the online test.
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TRADE UNION STRATEGIES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY:
AN INTERNATIONAL DISCUSSION
In the age of globalization, outsourcing and the ‘race for the bottom’ what strategies make sense for unions? How can falling union density in the private sector be reversed? What is social unionism and how can both public and private sector workers build alliances with their communities? How should unions relate to ‘progressive’ governments?
These questions and many more will be tackled by an outstanding international panel:
Willy Madisha President, Congress of South African Trade Unions
Cristina ErcoliWomen’s Secretary of CTERATeachers union in Argentina
George HeymanPresident, British Columbia Government and Service Employees’ Union
Moderator, David Chudnovsky, MLA Vancouver-Kensington, former president BCTF
When? Saturday, June 24, 7 PM
Where? 550 W 6th Avenue, Vancouver (BCTF Building)
Sponsored by Vancouver and District Labour Council and British Columbia Teachers’ Federation
Contacts: Mabel Elmore (604-254-0703), Larry Kuehn (604-871-2255)
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