American academia shines again

[fansince62]

academic freedom be damned....this professor needs to be fired and bannned from the country......let him become a fully tenured professor at the Sorbonne

*uck him. *uck his family, *uck the horse he road in on......

someone neds to do some serious "convincing" with this man

see ya

[Art]

For the record, the President of Columbia University has come out against these comments:

"I am shocked that someone would make such statements. Because of the University's tradition of academic freedom, I normally don't comment about statements made by faculty members. However, this one crosses the line and I really feel the need to say something. I am especially saddened for the families of those whose lives are at risk."

This attributed to Lee C. Bollinger.

Here, however, is how you contact this person to speak with him.

Name: NICHOLAS PAUL DE GENOVA

Title: ASST PROF

Dept: ANTHROPOLOGY

Mail Addr: DEPT OF ANTHROPOLOGY

416 HAMILTON

mail code 2880

Phone: MS 4-0199

+1 212-854-0199

Fax: +1 212-854-0500

UNI: npd18

EMail: npd18@columbia.edu

Have at it boys. His mailbox is full, so go to email.

[Zen-like Todd]

While I don't know the guy, I unfortunately attend this university. He's an asst. prof of latino studies (Also teaches an anthro class), and one look at the syllabus of his latino studies course shows he has an axe to grind w/ the U.S. (the reading list is chock full of goodness on american occupation of mexican lands, etc).

Also, if you go here (its a site where students can review profs), you can see that he made an assinine statement to the effect of saying that the jews don't have a right to the heritage of the holocaust (that other reviewer who clarified is, I believe, wrong).

About the only good thing I can say is that he doesnt have tenure, so expect to see his *** kicked out the door in the near future.

This article provides many more quotes by the various speakers. I've had classes with two of them, Van De Mieroop (just an all around bad teacher, monotonous lecturer, arrogant, and bitter because his "colleagues" didn't invite him to some event up at Harvard last May (I dont blame them, he's an ***), and Morris. The funny thing is that neither of them are American. Morris is Canadian, and Van De Mieroop is Flemish, I believe.

In addition, the dep. of middle eastern studies (MEALAC) has come under fire for its one sided views on regional conflicts, and has come under many charges of anti-semitism, which have only been perpetuated with the latest appointment.

Sadly, at Columbia, as at many universities around the country, professors spend their time talking only to each other, and to masses of children with unformed opinions, essentially creating their own little worlds that have no basis in reality, nor contact with it. They take potshots at people who have actually taken the responsibility to act, levying charges, and for the most part, not being held accountable for them. Intellectually, they are simple sophists, and more than anything else, resemble dogs chasing their own tails.

[Brave]

Smart people sometimes aren't.

[fansince62]

thanks Art....

TCO....still a fine school.........congrats.....it's what you make of it!!!!

sorry for my verbal excesses........I saw/heard the same kind of nonsense as an undergraduate and graduate student lo these many years ago....and it still rankles!!!!

[stratoman]

I emailed the A$$HOLE!! I hope they fire him and he is excommunicated by his peers!!! :finger:

[Tarhog]

Thanks for the email address Art...that felt kinda good.....

A little academic freedom is a dangerous thing apparently. I guess if I go to work today and start putting up flyers that say 'Die US Imperialists, Die', I shouldn't expect to lose my job. Must be nice to have that kind of personal behavior (oh, sorry, 'intellectual freedom') carte blanche. I wish I was a student there. I'd follow him around (only on University Property during scheduled classroom time of course) and shout 'Traitor', 'Get out of America', and whatever else came to mind. Afterall, I'd only be exercising my freedom of speech.

[Zen-like Todd]

A fine school? I don't know. I havent been overly impressed. I think there's a general misapprehension about Ivy League (pop quiz, where did the term come from?) universities in most circles. While there are some exceptionally bright people here, they, are in fact the exception, and not the rule (woohoo, redundancy pun!). Faculty appointments are in fact political, despite vocal arguments to the contrary by the very people responsible for this biased and destructive behavior. I also strongly dispute any claims that diversity of opinion is valued or encouraged.

If it makes you feel better though, while the typical mindless college activism that you encountered still exists, the scope is rather limited, and the bulk of the silliest behavior is brought about with the encouragement of certain faculty members.

What I find most amusing/disturbing is that many of these professors are so far to one side of the political spectrum that they are no longer capable of viewing it. On many occasions I've heard remarks suggesting that opposing viewpoints which are obviously liberal (although perhaps reasonable) are in fact conservative views. And the saddest thing of all is that their political views all too often seep into their teaching, if you can call that teaching.

[Zen-like Todd]

Originally posted by Tarhog

Thanks for the email address Art...that felt kinda good.....

A little academic freedom is a dangerous thing apparently. I guess if I go to work today and start putting up flyers that say 'Die US Imperialists, Die', I shouldn't expect to lose my job. Must be nice to have that kind of personal behavior (oh, sorry, 'intellectual freedom') carte blanche. I wish I was a student there. I'd follow him around (only on University Property during scheduled classroom time of course) and shout 'Traitor', 'Get out of America', and whatever else came to mind. Afterall, I'd only be exercising my freedom of speech.

Heh. I have a couple of classes in Hamilton. I'll drop by his office and see if its been cleared out already.

[Yomar]

My uncle teaches at Columbia and I assure you, this is one man's opinion, it doesn't even accurately represent the Columbia faculty, much less academia.

[stratoman]

Originally posted by Yomar

My uncle teaches at Columbia and I assure you, this is one man's opinion, it doesn't even accurately represent the Columbia faculty, much less academia.

I would sure hope to think so.

[Glenn X]

De Genova’s particular expertise on the subject of the war in Iraq is not clear. His dissertation, entitled "Working the Boundaries, Making the Difference: Race and Space in Mexican Chicago," explores "socio-cultural processes implicated in the mutually constitutive productions of racialized difference and urban space in the experiences of Mexican migrant factory workers in Chicago," according to a Stanford University Web site.

"De Genova’s research posits a Mexican Chicago as a standpoint of critique from which to interrogate the U.S. nation-state, political economy, racialized citizenship, and immigration law," said the site.

Socio-cultural processes implicated in the mutually constitutive productions of racialized difference?

:laugh:

Why is it that cultural studies academics feel the need to speak in this bizarre, elitist language that requires a g*ddamn Green Lantern decoder ring to figure out? The sad thing is that, after four years at USC, I actually kinda understand what this guy is trying to say.

:doh:

According to HBO's Bernie Goldberg, there was a poll conducted back in the '80s, if memory serves, at Columbia's School of Journalism in which students were asked: "Who's the better leader, Ronald Reagan or Fidel Castro?" According to Goldberg, the results of the poll were overwhelmingly in favor of Castro. I've been trying to find some evidence of this poll on the internet, but have come up dry so far. Can anyone here confirm or comment on the validity or invalidity of this alleged poll and its results?