Tag: academic freedom

Academic Freedom and the New McCarthyism: AP WORKSHOP on Mon 3/14!!!

March 11, 2011 / Alyson S. / 0 Comments

The Adjunct Project’s new Workshop Series presents…

ACADEMIC FREEDOM and the NEW McCARTHYISM

Monday, March 14 @ 6:30pm

CUNY Graduate Center, Concourse Room 201 (basement level)

365 Fifth Avenue
B/D/F/M/N/Q/R to 34th St–Herald Square

Panel and discussion featuring:

Frances Fox Piven
Professor of Political Science and Sociology, CUNY Graduate Center, author of Challenging Authority: How Ordinary People Change America
Ashley Dawson
Professor of English, CUNY Graduate Center, co-editor of Dangerous Professors: Academic Freedom and the National Security Campus
Carol Smith
Retired faculty, The City College of New York, curator of the online exhibit “The Struggle for Free Speech at CCNY, 1931-42”
Kristofer Petersen-Overton
Adjunct Lecturer of Political Science, Brooklyn College.

RSVP/share: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=197803470243515

Our university is once again under attack. Two opponents of academic freedom, Glenn Beck and NY Assemblyman Dov Hikind, have recently targeted CUNY faculty members Frances Fox Piven and Kristofer Petersen-Overton, respectively, in the worst academic witch-hunts seen in years. Moreover, David Horowitz–author of the neo-McCarthyite work The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America and coordinator of the virulently anti-Muslim “Islamofascism Week” at U.S. colleges in 2007–has been welcomed to speak at Brooklyn College’s Library this Thursday at 6pm, where many people from around CUNY plan to protest his lecture.

Many education advocates have begun to ask what political strategies are needed to challenge the right-wing assaults on academic expression that Beck, Hikind, and Horowitz encourage, especially given the hidden origins of McCarthyism in the CUNY system itself. Indeed, intellectual silencing may further grow in the absence of a principled defense of freedom both in and outside the classroom.

Join us for this first gathering in our new Adjunct Project Workshop Series at the Graduate Center, which will bring together these speakers for a discussion on the struggle for academic freedom.

For more info on this event and the Adjunct Project’s new workshop series, contact conortomasreed@gmail.com.

AND CHECK OUT THIS AWESOME FLYER!!!

Save the date! The next workshop will be “‘I’m Stickin’ to the Union!’: Nuts and Bolts of the PSC and the Contract Campaign,” March 30th, 6:30pm, GC rm5414

*Brought to you by the Adjunct Project*
site: www.cunyadjunctproject.org
email: theadjunctproject@gmail.com
office: CUNY Graduate Center, room 5494

Kristofer Petersen-Overton Reappointed!! Celebration Rally at Brooklyn College this Thurs, 12pm

February 2, 2011 / Alyson S. / 0 Comments

Attention CUNY Community,
As of today, Kristofer Petersen-Overton has been unconditionally reappointed to teach his Middle East course for this Spring 2011 semester. Brooklyn College finally responded to the swiftly galvanized public pressure from CUNY folks, the community, and supporters (literally) worldwide who had heard about his case and spoke out. See BC President Karen Gould’s letter reprinted below.

We will hold a Celebration Rally at Brooklyn College this Thursday, on schedule at 12pm, and call on all supporters of university justice and academic freedom to join us. We all who fought this fight collectively won alongside Kristofer, we tremendously benefit from this victory, and so we all deserve to celebrate! See you there. (And take a look at the joyous new flyer!)

We Stopped the Attacks on Academic Freedom! Kristofer Petersen-Overton is back!

Just a week before the start of spring semester classes, Kristofer Petersen-Overton was fired from his position as an adjunct lecturer of political science at Brooklyn College. A scholar highly regarded by many distinguished faculty at CUNY, Petersen-Overton was scheduled to teach a Middle East Politics course. His firing by Provost William Tramontano came hours after college President Karen Lee Gould was contacted by a New York State assemblyman who complained about the instructor’s academic writings on Israel and the Palestinians. It is clear that Petersen-Overton’s dismissal was the product of political pressure.

The college’s actions were a clear violation of academic freedom, including the university’s own official policy. We demanded that Petersen-Overton be fully reinstated in his position, and that his course on Middle East Politics be allowed to proceed as originally designed. The university ultimately respected this academic freedom, and we urge it to do so with all its employees and students. This is especially crucial with contingent faculty like Petersen-Overton, who receive none of the protections of tenure despite the fact that they teach the majority of courses at the City University of New York.

Stopping attacks on academic freedom is crucial to the rights of all of us who work and study at Brooklyn College and the City University of New York! We made this happen!

CELEBRATION RALLY details:

When: Thursday, February 3, 12-2pm

Where: Brooklyn College

Outside Boylan Hall in the campus Quad, near Bedford Ave.

Trains: Q Local to the Avenue H station, at Avenue H & East 16th Street. Walk 4 blocks east to the Ocean Avenue entrance. #2 (7th Avenue Local) or #5 (Lexington Avenue Express) to the Flatbush Avenue/Nostrand Avenue station.

Featured speaker: Kristofer Petersen-Overton

Sponsored by: CUNY Adjunct Project, CUNY Contingents Unite, Doctoral Students’ Council, Brooklyn College Student Union, Brooklyn College Palestine Club, Al Awda-NY: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, New York City Labor Against the War, American Iranian Friendship Committee (AIFC), Jews Say No!, too many more to now count!!!

For more info, or to co-sponsor, contact: Conor Tomás Reed at cocoreed@gmail.com, 979.204.9253

UPDATES: The GC Advocate is keeping a live blog on the case and they have compiled many of the letters that prominent intellectuals have sent to Brooklyn College on behalf of academic freedom (including, among others, Neve Gordon, Noam Chomsky, Rosalind Petchesky, Susan Buck-Morss, Marshall Berman, Katha Pollitt, Anne Norton, John Wallach, Moustafa Bayoumi, Greg Grandin, and President of the AAUP Cary Nelson). See the following links:

Day 1: http://www.gcadvocate.com/2011/01/new-blog-on-academic-freedom-issues-at-cuny/

Day 2: http://www.gcadvocate.com/2011/01/academic-freedom-at-cuny-day-2/

Day 3: http://www.gcadvocate.com/2011/01/academic-freedom-at-cuny-day-3/

Day 4: http://www.gcadvocate.com/2011/01/academic-freedom-at-cuny-day-4/

Also: check out THIS NEW AWESOME FLYER!!!

A VICTORY FOR ACADEMIC FREEDOM!

February 1, 2011 / Calvin S. / 0 Comments

Last night our colleague, friend, and comrade, Kristofer Petersen-Overton was reappointed to his adjunct position in the political science department at Brooklyn College. This is a victory for academic freedom. As of now the rally/protest scheduled for Thursday will now be a victory party!

See the announcement below by president of Brooklyn College, Karen Gould:

Dear students, faculty, and staff,

Over the past several days, as a result of a provostial decision about an adjunct appointment, Brooklyn College has been thrust into a debate about academic freedom. This debate has been fueled at times by inflammatory rhetoric and mischaracterization of the facts. It is unfortunate that matters of utmost importance to our college community can be so rapidly co-opted by those with a political agenda and distorted by the media.

I stand united with you: We must never allow decisions about our students’ education to be swayed by outside influence. In the matter at hand, this certainly has not been the case. On behalf of every member of this institution, I reaffirm our steadfast commitment to the principles of academic freedom, faculty governance, and standards of excellence.

Today, the Department of Political Science and its appointments committee voted unanimously to recommend Kristofer Petersen-Overton to teach a graduate course on the Middle East. Based on information that has come to light, they are confident he has sufficient depth of knowledge and the intellectual capacity to successfully lead a graduate seminar. The provost now supports their recommendation, and I am in full agreement.

Brooklyn College continues to have a strong commitment to academic freedom. As one of the most diverse campuses in the United States, we value civil discourse on even the most difficult topics. We believe that open, substantive dialogue between those with different points of view is an essential component of a 21st-century education.

Equally essential are academic standards that ensure an excellent education for all students at all levels. During this calendar year, we will work together as faculty and administrators to ensure that our graduate programs are of the highest caliber.

It is now time for us to come together as a community and welcome Mr. Petersen-Overton to Brooklyn College. We wish him and his students a productive, rewarding semester of graduate study.

Sincerely,

Karen L. Gould
President

ALL OUT ON THURSDAY!!!

January 31, 2011 / Calvin S. / 0 Comments