Friday, September 10, 2004

ACADEMIC TYRANNY

Even an honest Leftist fell foul of academic Stalinism

"I'm a PhD looking for a full time teaching job in a very difficult market. When I could not find a full-time job for fall, I began looking for adjunct positions. I got a call from a prestigious university. I was excited. I was interviewed by Prof. X, the head of the writing program. As I said in subsequent emails to him and to his associate, I was deeply and positively impressed with Prof. X's apparent dedication to teaching, which he combined with a fine mind. I had applied at several other schools. I turned down a part-time position that would have paid much more. I did this because I wanted to work with Prof. X. In the end, I turned down several other offers.

The sample assignments we were given struck me as directive, as forcing students to accept, as fact, theories. Further, these theories, combined with the articles -- one about people celebrating all over the world after seeing film footage of planes crashing into the World Trade Center on 9-11, one about the "threat" of McDonald's restaurants opening up worldwide, and one that commented on America's efforts to combat terrorism, seen as not being good efforts -- created an anti-American slant. For example, one sample assignment asked students to compare eating at McDonald's to genocide.

There was no "out" in this sample assignment. A student who did not regard eating at McDonald's as comparable to genocide would not have been able to answer the question, and would have failed. That student's grade depended on his or her ideological agreement with the professor who had prepared the assignment. I was told that my homework assignment was to create assignments like those I had been shown in class.

I struggled with this assignment. I finally composed a note to Prof. X outlining my difficulty with the assignment.... I asked for guidance with the problems I was having in order to carry out my assigned duties, duties I was looking forward to fulfilling.

On the second day of the orientation, I arrived, early, and, again, sat up front, ready to absorb what wisdom Prof. X had to offer. Prof. X entered the room, ignored the other trainees present, approached me, and asked me to accompany him outside. Prof. X didn't just walk me into the hall, he escorted me outside the building. Once we were outside, Prof. X. said to me, immediately, "I wonder if this is going to work. This is like a marriage. You have objections to what we do. Give your social security number to our secretary, and we will pay you for coming for the orientation."

Again, I am a relatively recent PhD seeking employment in a very tight market. I have several strikes against me. I come from a working class, immigrant background, and entered grad school late. Further, I had to deal with a catastrophic illness while a grad student. I'm not a shiny, young, ethnically mainstream PhD who has all the time in the world to find the right job. This job may have been my last chance, or something close to it. If nothing else, I really needed the money. I'm living in Section 8 housing.

This all occurred the week before school was to start. I had made clear, in phone calls and emails, that I had turned down other jobs for this job. Is it consistent with leftist values to take a job away from someone who needs one so badly, at a time when that person's ability to find other work is in doubt?

The other terrific irony in all this is that I am not a right-winger. For example, I have not just marched against every military action undertaken by the US in my lifetime (except Afghanistan), I have organized and spoken at actions against every US military action in my lifetime. I'm a radical feminist, radically and actively pro-gay rights; I don't just preach environmental ideals; I live environmental ideals. I could continue listing my bona fides as a certified Pinko for several pages. I come by this point of view from my family, which includes not a few Communists. My work has been published in a national publication that was reviewed by Publishers' Weekly as "leftist." "

More here.



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