North Carolina State U undermines academic freedom of film scholar
For the Naitonal Project to Defend Dissent and Critical Thinking in
Academia Defendcriticalthinking.info
TAKE ACTION AGAINST YET ANOTHER ATTACK ON ACADEMIC FREEDOM
As you know, since 9/11, the right has ramped up its attack on academics
who dare to dissent from the U.S. occupation of Iraq and its policy in
the Middle East more generally. Neo-McCarthyite groups like the American
Council of Trustees and Alumni, Students for Academic Freedom and the
David Project have published lists of “disloyal” faculty and scurrilous
reports on allegedly "anti-American" courses dealing with U.S.
imperialism, Islam and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Respected
scholars who study and write about such subjects -such as Norman
Finkelstein-- have been denied tenure solely on the basis of their
politics. Others, like Ward Churchill, have had tenure summarily
stripped from them. In similar instances, applications for tenure have
been seriously threatened (Nadia Abu El-Haj: Joseph Massad) and books
and their publishers have been targeted for censorship (i.e. Joel
Kovel’s book “Overcoming Zionism” and University of Michigan Press).
Now, the assault on academic freedom has effected yet another critical
scholar: Terri Ginsberg, a Ph.D. in Cinema Studies from NYU and an
authority on Israeli and Palestinian film.
Last fall, Terri was hired to a one year, non-tenure track position in
Film Studies at North Carolina State University (with the possibility of
renewal). As part of her teaching responsibilities, she offered advanced
courses on film and media treatment of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict,
and on the political aesthetics of Holocaust film (the subject of her
recent book); she was also charged with helping to program a Middle
Eastern film series.
Unfortunately, as Terri details in a grievance she filed with the NCSU
Faculty in March 2008, the director of the film studies program and the
director of the Middle East studies program at NCSU made a number of
administrative decisions in the course of the past year that flagrantly
violated Terri’s academic freedom.
To begin with, they limited her involvement in the film series which she
had been hired to curate, and criticized the introduction she gave at a
screening of the Palestinian film “Ticket to Jerusalem” as biased and
overly political. Moreover, the director of the film studies program
refused to purchase many of the materials Terri had requested for her
Palestine/Israel film and media course and submitted her evaluation of
Terri’s teaching prematurely. All of this culminated in her contract not
being renewed for the upcoming academic year.
The grievance Terri filed with the NCSU Faculty alleged violations of
her First Amendment and equal opportunity rights under the University
Code. Despite a recommendation from the NCSU Faculty Chair that her case
be given a full hearing, NCSU Chancellor James L. Oblinger summarily
dismissed her petition on the grounds that it was filed “too late” and
that Terri was no longer a university employee. To make matters worse,
the AAUP-- who had been helping Terri with her case-- informed her in
the wake of Oblinger’s decision that they would no longer provide her
with assistance. (For more information about the facts of Terri’s case,
read the following article:
http://media.www.technicianonline.com/media/storage/paper848/news/2008/07/17/News/Professor.Claims.Unprotected.Speech-3391733.shtml)
In response to this outrage, people from around the world have been
inundating NCSU with letters demanding that the Chancellor and the Board
of Trustees allow Terri’s grievance to go forward. An online petition
has been started that requests that NCSU consider Terri’s case and asks
the AAUP to give her the support she deserves.
Please take a few minutes to help Terri in this fight. First, add your
name to the petition of support drafted by Academics for Justice
(AcademicsForJustice.org):
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/Protect-Academic-Freedom
Second, send e-mails and make phone calls to D. McQueen Campbell, chair
of the NSCU Board of Trustees, and D. McQueen Campbell, Chair NCSU Board
of Trustees tele: 919-515-2195 fax: 919-831-3545 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Dr. Larry A. Nielsen, NCSU Provost & Executive Vice Chancellor
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
tele: 919-515-2195 fax: 919-515-5921
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