The Right, the Neoliberal Academy, and how to Fight Back

A talk I have given since 2017; please go back and read the post Neoliberalism and White Supremacy as newer context for this piece. Thanks! Since a series of high-profile right-wing campaigns of faculty bullying—from Johnny Eric Williams to Keeanga-Yahmatta Taylor, George Ceccariello-Maher, and Rochelle Guttierez—the white supremacist blitz has continued against critical and activist…

This from the American Association of University Professors

Here is some important news about gains for faculty and academic freedom! Dear Dana,  Happy May Day! AAUP members like you make higher ed work, and as many campuses approach the end of the spring term, we wanted to take a moment to highlight what a strong year it has been so far. Here’s a…

Neoliberalism and White Supremacy in the Academy: Double Threat in the Time of Trump

The Right's targeting of intellectuals has increased while public attention to it has declined. It has become something like the new normal. In addition, the nature of Trump's regime has become increasingly clear: He emboldens the Right here and around the world. Economic crises and popular movements of resistance have brought fascist and proto-fascist regimes…

Justice for Loretta Capeheart! Defend Free Speech in the Academy!

Friends and colleagues: Please respond by signing onto the petition; please forward and circulate. This case has broad ramifications for freedom of expression on the part of faculty across the country. THIS IS an urgent appeal for your support to defend Professor Loretta Capeheart in her struggle with her employer, Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) in…

Account of UNC protester on Tancredo visit 4/14

I attended the event on the 14th as a researcher of social protest and free speech and to stand in solidarity with those students who felt threatened by the presence of the YWC and Mr. Tancredo in our community. During the protest, I watched as some of my students were roughly pushed to the ground by police officers, sprayed with pepper spray, and threatened with a taser. I helped some students to the bathroom on the second floor of Bingham Hall to rinse the spray from their noses, mouths, and eyes. Needless to say I was afraid for their safety and my own.

Defend Loretta Capeheart!

JUSTICE FOR PROFESSOR LORETTA CAPEHEART! A TEST CASE FOR ACADEMIC FREEDOM AND WORKERS’ RIGHTS Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) Justice Studies professor Loretta Capeheart has been targeted by her administration for her outspokenness for workers’ rights, against the Iraq war, and for increased representation of minority scholars at NEIU. In 2007 she was elected to chair…

“Facts Count” by Freeexchangeon campus.org

Go to freeexchange on campus.org for the full report. Here are their conclusions about Horowitz's latest book, "One-Party Classroom" FACTS STILL COUNT executive summary Nearly three years after our first report, Facts Count, debunked the accusations against faculty members and higher education in David Horowitz’s 2006 book, The Professors, we find ourselves confronted with yet…

And so it begins again . . . Horowitz targets me with lies, exaggerations, and distortions

On April 9, 2009, a rowdy group of about 60 students protested the appearance of  neo-McCarthyite culture warrior David Horowitz in Austin. Because Horowitz repeatedly targets me in his attacks on progressive and critical intellectuals, I was part of the protest. On April 18, The Wall Street Journal published a lengthy opinion column by David…

Confronting Right-Wing Bigots

This, from a colleague at the University of North Carolina. Could have written the same thing about our protest against Horowitz last week. April 16, 2009 Dear Chancellor Thorp: I want to express my concerns over the events of April 14, 2009. Currently, I am a Doctoral Candidate and Teaching Fellow in the Department of…

Academic Speaks Out against Charlie Wilson Chair

http://statesman.com.pk/opinion/op11.htm ------------------------------------------------------- The Statesman, Peshawar September 13 , 2008 Charlie Wilson's war: The academic blowback Dr. Mohammad Taqi Just when we thought that Charlie Wilson would fade away into the dustbin of history, he staged a come-back last year, via a Mike Nichols movie "Charlie Wilson's War"ˇ based on a 2003 book by George Crile…