Cancelling Dr. Seuss

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An interesting discussion of the latest bruhaha in African history:

The Atlantic: The New History Wars: Inside the strife set off by an essay from the president of the American Historical Association

The August edition of the association's monthly magazine featured, as usual, a short essay by the association's president, James H. Sweet, a professor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Within hours of its publication, an outrage volcano erupted on social media. A professor at Cornell vented about the author's "white gaze." A historian at the University of San Diego denounced the essay as "significant and substantial violence." A historian at Knox College, in Illinois, organized an email campaign to pressure the AHA to respond.

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That attempt at mollification only widened the controversy. An op-ed in The Wall Street Journal denounced the "woke mob" that had extracted Sweet's mea culpa. Fox News soon followed in similar terms. On August 20, the AHA temporarily locked its Twitter account to shut down a discussion it said had been hijacked by "trolls."

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But the seeming triumph of the adversarial approach to history in 2019 and 2020 elicited a sharp backlash. Idaho, Iowa, and Oklahoma enacted laws in 2021 to forbid the teaching of "divisive concepts" in schools and universities—the critical, race-conscious attitude to history heading the list of such concepts. Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi followed in 2022. Several of these divisive-concepts laws pack a powerful legal punch. Some versions create rights to civil action that would permit students or parents to sue professors who teach history in a way that the students or parents don't want. Other versions would empower the state to police the political content of university teaching and even academic research. Florida is arguing in federal court that the state can lawfully decree or forbid what state-university professors may say in class.

[mahagonny]

Sound reasonable to me. Black trans comedienne defends Dave Chappelle.

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=881907709107238

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IHE: Biology Professor Reportedly Told to Stop Teaching Gender

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and PEN America are demanding answers from Valdosta State University over reports that it told a professor of biology to change how she teaches sex and gender following a parent complaint. Jeremy C. Young, senior manager of free expression and education at PEN, said in a statement, "Most college students are adults, and parents should not be controlling what their adult children can learn, let alone what a professor can teach to a whole class. Faculty must be free to explore academic topics with their students, including those that are controversial or make some uncomfortable, without fear of repercussions. Doing so is at the core of universities' academic mission."

The sword cuts both ways.

[marshwiggle]

IHE: Biology Professor Reportedly Told to Stop Teaching Gender

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and PEN America are demanding answers from Valdosta State University over reports that it told a professor of biology to change how she teaches sex and gender following a parent complaint. Jeremy C. Young, senior manager of free expression and education at PEN, said in a statement, "Most college students are adults, and parents should not be controlling what their adult children can learn, let alone what a professor can teach to a whole class. Faculty must be free to explore academic topics with their students, including those that are controversial or make some uncomfortable, without fear of repercussions. Doing so is at the core of universities' academic mission."

The sword cuts both ways.

As it should. Right now it seems more of the time it's the left talking about "weaponizing free speech".

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Princeton Supports Professor Who Apologized for Slur

In response to student complaints about a professor saying the N-word in class in reference to a poem that includes the word repeatedly, Princeton University said in a statement that it "guarantees all faculty and students the 'broadest possible latitude' to speak freely inside and outside the classroom. Speech is only restricted under narrow exceptions that do not apply to this incident. Our rules recognize that these free speech protections apply to words and ideas that people may find 'offensive, unwise, immoral, or wrong-headed,' but these protections are essential for Princeton's truth-seeking mission."

For background:

Princeton Professor Under Fire for Saying N-Word in Class

[marshwiggle]

Princeton Supports Professor Who Apologized for Slur

In response to student complaints about a professor saying the N-word in class in reference to a poem that includes the word repeatedly, Princeton University said in a statement that it "guarantees all faculty and students the 'broadest possible latitude' to speak freely inside and outside the classroom. Speech is only restricted under narrow exceptions that do not apply to this incident. Our rules recognize that these free speech protections apply to words and ideas that people may find 'offensive, unwise, immoral, or wrong-headed,' but these protections are essential for Princeton's truth-seeking mission."

For background:

Princeton Professor Under Fire for Saying N-Word in Class

Have there been any cases of institutions cancelling courses on things like popular music because the music contains words that can't be uttered in class? That would be fascinating (but totally logical).

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I have not heard of that.  But that's what Google is for.

[mahagonny]

IHE: Biology Professor Reportedly Told to Stop Teaching Gender

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and PEN America are demanding answers from Valdosta State University over reports that it told a professor of biology to change how she teaches sex and gender following a parent complaint. Jeremy C. Young, senior manager of free expression and education at PEN, said in a statement, "Most college students are adults, and parents should not be controlling what their adult children can learn, let alone what a professor can teach to a whole class. Faculty must be free to explore academic topics with their students, including those that are controversial or make some uncomfortable, without fear of repercussions. Doing so is at the core of universities' academic mission."

The sword cuts both ways.

As it should. Right now it seems more of the time it's the left talking about "weaponizing free speech".

'It's not that your ideas are uncomfortable to hear because they challenge established beliefs that people are emotionally invested in. It's that your ideas are painful to hear because they are so idiotic.' - Peterson

I'm looking around for this. Instead of inserting themselves in the official process, a parent might just start writing letters to the press. Don't talk to the offending party. Talk about them.

The Babylon Bee does a decent job. Comedy is now the domain of the political right (other than humor w/no politics), woke being a religion that banishes humor, while being an excellent subject for it.

[jimbogumbo]

Don't know if this belongs here, but it is about canceling student journalists. Maybe more about the dark side  of social media. Paywalled probably, from WaPo.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/19/student-journalist-harass-arizona/

[marshwiggle]

Don't know if this belongs here, but it is about canceling student journalists. Maybe more about the dark side  of social media. Paywalled probably, from WaPo.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/11/19/student-journalist-harass-arizona/

Interesting issues regarding Gen Z and social media come up here:

Lukas Pakter, a senior and former fraternity president, has amassed more than 129,000 followers on TikTok by posting about his workouts, advice on how to balance partying and school, and how to handle relationships. His videos are candid and self-effacing. He takes questions primarily from young men about things like dating and professional networking.

In August, Krupp contacted Pakter and said she was interested in profiling him for the student paper. Pakter obliged, and granted her an interview.

Krupp's profile of him, published in the online version of The Daily Wildcat under the Opinion section, critiqued Pakter and his fans, comparing him to Andrew Tate, an influencer whose misogynistic posts have gotten him banned from YouTube and TikTok. She called Pakter's TikTok commentary "troublesome" and questioned whether he was a good role model for his thousands of followers.

It's interesting in light of this:

As the first generation of digital natives, Gen Z students' lives are intertwined with the internet in a way that older journalists' might not be. "So much of our lives are online and so much of how people perceive us and our identity is online," Krupp said. "Part of me is my social media presence, it's a big part of my life. And that's true for all my friends and all other young people I know."

For a generation who lives and dies by social media reputation, they often seem surprised by bad reactions to what they themselves post about others. They seem unable to put themselves in the shoes of the other person to anticipate how their own actions will be perceived.

[dismalist]

None of this cancellation business -- for whatever reason -- worries me muchly. The reason is that we indeed have lots of diversity among colleges and universities in the United States and thus everyone can pick his favorite drug. [The same applies to social media]. As a general rule, public colleges are obliged to respect A1 and generally abide by it. It's the private colleges, on average more expensive, that restrict speech even if they proclaim free speech in their advertising.

As for counterthrusts, say by the State of Florida prescribing speech guidelines, even if it is legal, if one doesn't like it, one can go someplace else.

Here is a free speech ranking of colleges  put together by Fire https://www.realcleareducation.com/speech/index.html It is worth perusing. One will see that it's the private colleges that have virtually all of the problem. Look, if the kids of the rich want to be in a safe space and can pay for it, let them. The working stiffs will learn more and better and succeed.

Variety is the spice of life!

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Auburn professor awarded damages for university punishment over published comments about football program

An Alabama jury found that an Auburn professor, Michael Stern, was unjustly targeted after making comments about the concentration of athletes in one of the university's administration programs, per AL.com's Ruth Serven Smith. Stern was awarded $645,837 in damages after the two-week trial that found the former dean unduly punished him.

Stern has had a history of speaking out against perceived issues regardless of the implications from other staff members.

[marshwiggle]

Auburn professor awarded damages for university punishment over published comments about football program

An Alabama jury found that an Auburn professor, Michael Stern, was unjustly targeted after making comments about the concentration of athletes in one of the university's administration programs, per AL.com's Ruth Serven Smith. Stern was awarded $645,837 in damages after the two-week trial that found the former dean unduly punished him.

Stern has had a history of speaking out against perceived issues regardless of the implications from other staff members.

From later in the article:

Stern in 2014 made several statements about the demographic of student-athletes in the public administration department. Then in 2015, The Wall Street Journal published that the department was almost 50% athletes which included many of the top football players.

Since something like that must be a matter of public record, it's hard to see how they could justify punishing him for pointing it out.

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IHE: New Auburn Coach Apologizes for Social Media Activity

The freshly hired Auburn University football coach is mere days into his job, but he's already issued an apology amid outrage over his previous Twitter use at Liberty University.

While employed at Liberty, Hugh Freeze messaged former student Chelsea Andrews on three different occasions while she was actively engaged in litigation against the university for what she said was a failure to appropriately address issues of sexual assault.

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Freeze on Twitter defended Ian McCaw, the athletic director at Liberty who resigned from Baylor University in 2016 in the wake of a major sexual assault scandal related to the football team. Freeze defended McCaw in direct messages to Andrews, who was critical of the athletic director. Freeze's interaction with Andrews drew little attention at the time but prompted questions and criticism when Auburn announced his hiring this week.

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IHE: Reed College Professor Quits Months After Racist Video

Students have been demanding Currie's ouster since March, when a video surfaced of him making racist statements. In the video, he asks a woman if she was born in the United States or is an illegal immigrant. (She answers that she was born in Portland.)

Audrey Bilger, president of Reed, wrote that "last spring, many community members expressed concerns, ones I shared, about a video circulated on social media that captured remarks made by a professor on leave from the college, Paul Currie. Based on the content of the video, the incident led to calls for reconsideration of Professor Currie's appointment, a position he held with indefinite tenure. Following the procedure outlined in college documents governing faculty employment, a faculty committee investigated the incident and found no violation of college policy. I have accepted the committee's decision. After receiving the report, I discussed the committee's findings with legal experts and with Professor Currie. As a result of these discussions, Professor Currie has resigned from his position."

The Oregonian reported Currie issued a written apology

Note: the offending video appears to have been removed from its several platforms (Twitter account suspended).

Here it is on YouTube.

Reed students held a sit-in in their administration building, posted on Facebook, and actually dedicated a a website to firing Currie.