Academic Freedom and Cancel Culture

[spork]

Nikole Hannah-Jones will go to Howard instead of UNC:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/07/06/howard-nikole-hannah-jones-tanehisi-coates/.

[Wahoo Redux]

Nikole Hannah-Jones will go to Howard instead of UNC:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/07/06/howard-nikole-hannah-jones-tanehisi-coates/.

Man.  Can you imagine having so much prestige that you can thumb your nose at one awesome school and hop to another awesome school just because, you know, 'talk-to-the-hand-ye-bastards'?

All power to Hannah-Jones.   

[little bongo]

Absolutely. Cancelling is about power, and Ms. Hannah-Jones has more than her would-be cancellers. Good for her.

[mahagonny]

Imagine having the power to get adjunct faculty to join the chair and the other tenure trackers  to sign on to a statement claiming that you were treated racistly, in 2021, of all times, when claims of white against black racism are met with such skepticism. Now that impressed me. A true leader.

The irony gets my attention when tenured faculty don't want to let adjuncts have a vote in governance because they might be pressured by administration, but then is happy to pressure them to take their side in a controversy.

[lightning]

Imagine having the power to get adjunct faculty to join the chair and the other tenure trackers  to sign on to a statement claiming that you were treated racistly, in 2021, of all times, when claims of white against black racism are met with such skepticism. Now that impressed me. A true leader.

The irony gets my attention when tenured faculty don't want to let adjuncts have a vote in governance because they might be pressured by administration, but then is happy to pressure them to take their side in a controversy.

Take a lesson from Hannah-Jones. Get the power first. Then once you have it, force others to make the changes you want to see in higher ed., or at the very least have the real power to effectively spite people with whom you have a disagreement.

So you should get on the TT, get tenured, get the power & protection of tenure, then make the changes that you want to see (like a takedown of what you think is the BLM-supporting hypocritical liberal conspiracy in higher-ed, the takedown of TT faculty who you think wronged you when you were an adjunct, the takedown of administrators & their professional development programs who you think shove anti-racism down your throat, and everything else that you crusade against, in the fora).

I was a part-time NTT faculty at one time, at the beginning of my career, and some things really frustrated me. When I became one of the tenured, I used my little new power that I had, to try to make changes that I felt were important to higher ed. For one example, for the last ten years, we have not used a single adjunct in my unit. I always got in administrators' faces about not relying on adjunct labor and to instead hire only full-time faculty. They know now, if they try to rely on adjunct labor, they will get an earful from me (and others who are aligned with me).

You can do the same.

Seriously. Do it. Complaining here in the fora will get you nothing.

[dismalist]

For one example, for the last ten years, we have not used a single adjunct in my unit.

Such a policy may well be beneficial to the institution, but by reducing the demand for adjuncts one reduces the remaining adjuncts' wages.  :-(

[Wahoo Redux]

It helps if one has the Pulitzer and a polemical project with New York Times Magazine that garners national attention. 

[mahagonny]

It helps if one has the Pulitzer and a polemical project with New York Times Magazine that garners national attention. 

Sure, my point is partly that, while one may think she has power because the is doing nothing but speaking the clear truth, these confrontations always involve pawns.
And...  If you are liberal and you are making a lot of noise you'll get a Pulitzer Prize. That is one reason why Hussman and others among the Trustees suspected, rightly, that Hannah-Jones has a below average appreciation of honest research and inquiry, and an above average interest (among academics who are more disciplined in research anyway) in persuasion through biased reporting.

Of course not all the faculty signed on the the statement alleging improper conduct by the board (and also throwing in the ridiculous charge of racism for good measure, because...you can always get away with that when someone's skin is white; some won't believe you but there is no penalty for slinging this type of mud). The controversy is partly about the question of weakening the power of the tenure and promotion committee, which will galvanize academics working on the tenure track, whether or not they like her writing and activism or not. I'm sure some of them at UNC have read the NYT's 'clarification' (really a retraction of an important piece of  her 1619 Project.) It's a painful read, one is almost embarrassed for them.

For one example, for the last ten years, we have not used a single adjunct in my unit.

Such a policy may well be beneficial to the institution, but by reducing the demand for adjuncts one reduces the remaining adjuncts' wages.  :-(

Right, and some are not qualified or competitive for the tenure track. Or too old, like me. They are still invited to teach, but under crappy conditions. And then the hypocrisy.

[Wahoo Redux]

And...  If you are liberal and you are making a lot of noise you'll get a Pulitzer Prize.

REALLY!?  Is that all it takes!!!??? All this time I thought it was a prize that honored literary, musical, and journalistic excellence.

Shoot!!!  I had no idea it was that easy!  I can do that!

Pulitzer here I come!

Just when I thought my career had stalled...who knew!?

[mahagonny]

And...  If you are liberal and you are making a lot of noise you'll get a Pulitzer Prize.

REALLY!?  Is that all it takes!!!??? All this time I thought it was a prize that honored literary, musical, and journalistic excellence.

Shoot!!!  I had no idea it was that easy!  I can do that!

Pulitzer here I come!

Just when I thought my career had stalled...who knew!?

After you win, I'll refrain from outing you, because...in spite of following the herd with some of its loopier ideas, you're a good guy.

By making noise, I meant getting lots of attention, and getting invited to all the right parties. It's not that easy.

Of course, you mean you can't do it, because Hannah Jones is actually a person of rare talent perspicacity and depth. Which, you've probably already figured out, I'm not buying.

[lightning]

It helps if one has the Pulitzer and a polemical project with New York Times Magazine that garners national attention. 

Sure, my point is partly that, while one may think she has power because the is doing nothing but speaking the clear truth, these confrontations always involve pawns.
And...  If you are liberal and you are making a lot of noise you'll get a Pulitzer Prize. That is one reason why Hussman and others among the Trustees suspected, rightly, that Hannah-Jones has a below average appreciation of honest research and inquiry, and an above average interest (among academics who are more disciplined in research anyway) in persuasion through biased reporting.

Of course not all the faculty signed on the the statement alleging improper conduct by the board (and also throwing in the ridiculous charge of racism for good measure, because...you can always get away with that when someone's skin is white; some won't believe you but there is no penalty for slinging this type of mud). The controversy is partly about the question of weakening the power of the tenure and promotion committee, which will galvanize academics working on the tenure track, whether or not they like her writing and activism or not. I'm sure some of them at UNC have read the NYT's 'clarification' (really a retraction of an important piece of  her 1619 Project.) It's a painful read, one is almost embarrassed for them.

For one example, for the last ten years, we have not used a single adjunct in my unit.

Such a policy may well be beneficial to the institution, but by reducing the demand for adjuncts one reduces the remaining adjuncts' wages.  :-(

Right, and some are not qualified or competitive for the tenure track. Or too old, like me. They are still invited to teach, but under crappy conditions. And then the hypocrisy.

In my unit, no adjuncts lost their jobs or got their $ reduced because there were never any adjuncts to begin with in the last decade. There are only full-time positions, and it will stay that way, while I am still around. Of course, when I retire, if no one takes up the cause, who knows what will happen. And BTW, the number of full-time positions in my unit has increased (OK, not by much-- + 1 is nothing to brag about, I admit).

Nobody is stopping you, Mahagonny, from bettering yourself and becoming qualified and competitive on the TT. You don't need a big prize like Hannah-Jones. I think you are in the fine arts or something close to it? You don't even need a terminal degree in the fine arts, in a lot of places, and I know about several "mature" artists who have gotten TT jobs. Nobody is stopping you from trying now. Nobody stopped you in the past. Nobody will stop you in the future. Nobody. Only you can close the door on yourself. Stop complaining. Stop making excuses. Get the power. Bring down those "hypocrites." When you get tenured, you can speak your truth against power, and those "liberals" can do nothing to you and will fear you. Nothing you say here, as a response to this post in this thread, or in past or future fora posts, will change your ability to affect the change that you want. Get some power, and the liberal elites who you decry in secret, will be forced to listen to you when you confront them face-to-face. They will dread talking to you, when you ask to speak to them, because they know they have to respect you and your views. Isn't that what you really want for yourself?

[mahagonny]

Quit complaining??

At least I'm not pissing all over the country I live in. And peddling venom to kids in school.

As for changing the system because you've got tenure: tenure, like many things, doesn't change the world unless you've got the majority. Glenn Loury can't do it, and he's smarter than me.

Dr. Loury, if you're reading, Happy Fourth of July!

[mahagonny]

/

[mahagonny]

Nobody is stopping you, Mahagonny, from bettering yourself and becoming qualified and competitive on the TT. You don't need a big prize like Hannah-Jones. I think you are in the fine arts or something close to it? You don't even need a terminal degree in the fine arts, in a lot of places, and I know about several "mature" artists who have gotten TT jobs. Nobody is stopping you from trying now. Nobody stopped you in the past. Nobody will stop you in the future. Nobody. Only you can close the door on yourself. Stop complaining. Stop making excuses. Get the power. Bring down those "hypocrites." When you get tenured, you can speak your truth against power, and those "liberals" can do nothing to you and will fear you. Nothing you say here, as a response to this post in this thread, or in past or future fora posts, will change your ability to affect the change that you want. Get some power, and the liberal elites who you decry in secret, will be forced to listen to you when you confront them face-to-face. They will dread talking to you, when you ask to speak to them, because they know they have to respect you and your views. Isn't that what you really want for yourself?

Tenure doesn't have the allure it once did, now that charlatans are getting it.

[lightning]

I'm responding to you only to hammer you again with my points about you needing to up your game, get a TT job, & get tenure, so you can have the power in academe to command the attention and respect that you so desperately crave for yourself and your viewpoints, as well as make the changes in higher ed (at least at your institution), that you so desperately want to see. Read my post again, because it obviously didn't sink in the first time. Your only response was that tenure is no longer desirable, so I will speak to that point.

You might be surprised at this, but last spring, I had to endure the periodic diversity training that I loathe. Yes, you read that right. I loathe those things, too, although for vastly different reasons from your reasons. Strangely, we are both in agreement on that point.

The difference between us is, I could speak up at that meeting and express my reservations about the contents of the training session and the effectiveness of that session to meet the university's diversity/inclusion goals, and that we should not be bringing in overpaid consultants to waste our time with what amounts to virtue signaling. (I said it in a much nicer way, but I won't repeat that here because that takes longer.) The reason I could do that is because I have tenure. You don't, so that's why you have to whine express your feelings here and sit in those diversity training sessions in silence and cowardice. Get tenure, get the power & protection, and you, too, can perform the takedown of diversity training that I did. I know you so desperately want to tell them off, like I did. So, again (and I'm sure this won't be the last time), read my post, up your game, go get a TT job, get tenure, get the power/protection, then get the attention & respect you so desperately want. If not for yourself, do it for your conservative viewpoints and the others aligned with you. Anything short of this, well, you can always wait for Trump to get re-installed in August, and you can write him a letter and ask him to do your dirty work for you.