Anti-intellectualism

Berkeley, CA (Special to Informed Comment; Feature) – Much of the media conversation about the recent resignation of Harvard’s president, Claudine Gay, has (rightfully) framed her abrupt removal in the context of the current right-wing assault on liberal education and, particularly, its targeting of the policies and practices designed to promote racial equality on US […]

Open Letter to Higher Ed Presidents on Palestine-Israel and Academic Freedom

Committee on Academic Freedom

Middle East Studies Association of North America | Letters and Statements from the Board | – Open Letter to US and Canadian College and University Presidents We write on behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) and its Committee on Academic Freedom to urge you to uphold academic freedom on your […]

Anti-intellectualism

The Other Israel-Gaza Conflict: On Campus (Juan at Dawn)

Juan Cole

Excerpted from Dawn (Democracy for the Arab World Now) Israel’s total war on Gaza, following Hamas’s horrific terrorist attack on Oct. 7, has roiled higher education in the United States. The atrocities committed by Hamas in southern Israel two months ago have reverberated on many U.S. campuses, deeply traumatizing many Jewish students. But so too […]

Anti-intellectualism

Columbia University’s Suspension of Jewish Voices for Peace and Students for Justice in Palestine is Arbitrary and Wrong

Committee on Academic Freedom

Committee on Academic Freedom of the Middle East Studies Association. Minouche Shafik President, Columbia University officeofthepresident@columbia.edu Provost Dennis Mitchell dml48@cumc.columbia.edu . . . Dear President Shafik and colleagues: We write on behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) and its Committee on Academic Freedom to express our concern […]

Anti-intellectualism

Statement of Juan Cole, Director of the program in Arab and Muslim American Studies in the American Culture Department at the University of Michigan

Juan Cole

I write in awareness that the ongoing, painful events in the Middle East are putting an enormous emotional burden on the faculty, staff and students of our program. I want them to know that AMAS is here for them as a supporter and that we are available to offer counsel in this difficult moment. Concrete […]

Anti-intellectualism

From Palestine to Slavery, Ron DeSantis’ Muzzling of Universities is dooming Florida Higher Education

Florida Phoenix

Diane Roberts ( Florida Phoenix ) – The American Association of University Professors recently conducted a survey of faculty in Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, and Texas, finding the state of higher education in the South is not strong — in fact, it’s in crisis. One-third of those surveyed say they’re looking for a job in […]

Anti-intellectualism

‘Era Of Repression’: Iran Purges Ranks Of University Professors Ahead Of Veil Protest Anniversary

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

By Hannah Kaviani Fereshteh Ghazi ( RFE/RL ) – Encouraging students to hold unauthorized demonstrations. Encouraging students to sing antiestablishment slogans. Encouraging female students to remove their head scarves. Undermining Islamic values and acting against the interests of the system. These are the list of reasons the Iranian authorities are using to increasingly purge the […]

Anti-intellectualism

Why Defining Criticism of Israeli Policies as “antisemitism” Harms Campus Freedom of Speech (BRISMES)

contributors

Statement of the British Society for Middle East Studies and the European Legal Support Center on the IHRA Definition of antisemitism as a challenge to free speech in Universities. IC is reprinting the opening paragraphs of

Anti-intellectualism

Defending Professor Satyel Larson’s Right to Teach her Field freely at Princeton despite Israel Lobbies’ Pressure

Committee on Academic Freedom

Committee on Academic Freedom | Middle East Studies Association Christopher Eisgruber President, Princeton University fax: 609-258-1615 Professor Gene Jarrett Dean of the Faculty, Princeton University gjarrett@princeton.edu Professor Jill Dolan Dean of the College, Princeton University jsdolan@princeton.edu Professor Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi Chair, Department of Near Eastern Studies, Princeton University behroozg@princeton.edu Dear President Eisgruber […]