Thank you Louis for posting that --- I lived through that fight --- The REASON the Dean had to take over the Department is because the right-wing majority of the Department tried to purge a really fine radical, Michael H, Best. Students (and faculty elsewhere in the U as well as in the surrounding area) protested and in the end the Dean overruled the Department's efforts to deny Mike tenure and the right-wingers in effect went "on strike" -- the Department Chair resigned and as one can see from reading the letter they refused to form an advisory committee ---
In the middle of the Dean's letter there is a short allusion to the fact that the Department was hiring people without any sense of the needs of the students in terms of areas to be covered --- The effort to purge Michael created such conflict that there was fear that many students, especially at the graduate level, would refuse to stay at the U --- THere is a book written about the "radicalization" of the U. Mass department --- here it is: Katzner, Donald *At the Edge of Camelot: Debating Economics in Turbulent Times* (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011). THe Dean's decision to counter the narrowmindedness of the "traditional" members of the Department was a wonderful decision and it has led to U. Mass being the center of outstanding research, scholarship, teaching and a home to graduate students of a variety of persuasions .... I myself, had the opportunity to be an adjunct for some undergraduate courses and was very impressed with the quality of the students --- (and yes, even with the "radical" group there were different "schools" that emerged over the years -- even some internal conflict --- but I myself have been impressed with All the various U. Mass people I have met over the years --- ) When I was chair of the Economics Department at my school we hired two U. Mass Ph Ds on tenure track and hired two others at various times as short term appointments --- In my early years at Western New England College (1970-1980) the existence of a radical contingent at U. Mass and at Smith (and then other places in the Valley) was an important support system for all local radicals .... I learned a lot from the various events I attended --- On Sun, Jul 4, 2021 at 8:57 AM Louis Proyect <[email protected]> wrote: > > http://www.irwincollier.com/university-of-massachusetts-hiring-a-flock-of-radical-economists-1973/ > > -- > -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#9679): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/9679 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/83978904/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
