Interesting People mailing list archives
more on The Academic Freedom Bill of Rights
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2005 15:08:23 -0500
------ Forwarded Message From: "Alexander R. Cohen" <arc () arclights net> Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2005 11:51:52 -0500 To: <dave () farber net> Subject: Re: [IP] The Academic Freedom Bill of Rights Prof. Farber: You might consider in this context the controversy over Mideast studies at Columbia. Students claim that certain pro-Palestinian professors strive to intimidate pro-Israel students. I attended a forum on academic freedom where the party line was: Israel is wrong, so any defense of Israel is incompetent and therefore not protected by academic freedom; students who are upset by this just don't like that professors challenge beliefs they've never heard challenged before. Or you might consider the controversy at Harvard over President Summers' remarks concerning women: Are we really expected to believe that the professors who want his head would tolerate a student's expression of the same views? Professors shouldn't be sued for refusing to teach Rush Limbaugh. It's the professor's job to pick the texts, and that's part of his academic freedom. But if you teach the leftist John Rawls in introductory political philosophy, you should at least be open to a counterargument based on (or resembling) anyone from Karl Marx to Ayn Rand. If a student raises an argument that suggests he's inclined in a direction you recognize, you should be willing to point him toward the authors who work in that direction as well as your own. And while you're entitled to teach about the family from a feminist perspective, you're not entitled to show the door to students who want to argue for traditional family values--just as professors who teach from a traditional perspective aren't entitled to dismiss feminist students. Daniel C. Dennett, the philosopher of evolution and mind, tells a story in one of his books that when he was a student (an undergraduate, if I recall correctly), he considered himself an anti-Quinian, so he went to Prof. Quine and asked which of his critics he should be reading. Every student should be comfortable enough to do likewise, and every professor should be honest enough to give the best guidance he can to those who disagree with him. Alexander R. Cohen, J.D. Doctoral student in philosophy, CUNY Graduate Center Adjunct assistant professor of government, John Jay College of Criminal Justice ------ End of Forwarded Message ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as lists-ip () insecure org To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting-people/
Current thread:
- more on The Academic Freedom Bill of Rights David Farber (Mar 30)
- <Possible follow-ups>
- more on The Academic Freedom Bill of Rights David Farber (Mar 30)