University of Dayton Chapter

American Association of University Professors

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Feb 12, 2009

(Minutes Unapproved)  

 

Roesch Library 601, 3:00 p.m.  2009 Fourth Meeting, 2008-2009  

Presiding:  President Joseph Watras

1.     Minutes of Jan. 15 meeting were approved.

2.     Prof. Friel made the financial report, no change in balance.

  1. We are concerned with present difficulty with OhioLink and the electronic journal files.  This is a downside to dependence on digital data.

 

  1. Plans are being made for a Spring Wine and Cheese. The date will be Tuesday, March 31 at 3:00 in the LTC Team Space rm. 20 on the ground floor of Roesch Library.  Professor Stock  of the Business Research Group will be available for discussion on the country’s economic meltdown and its possible effect on the University.

 

  1. Professor Buckley donated $100.00 to the library and has the authority to purchase appropriate books on the topic of Academic Freedom to support the collection honoring Dr. Beauregard. Professor Buckley produced a list of possible purchases.  SEE selections below.

  

6. Next Meeting The next meeting will be March 19 ,2009 3:00pm Roesch Library 601.

    

     7.  Adjournment at 2:40 p.m.

 

        Respectfully submitted,  

 

        David M. Buckley  

        Secretary  

 

Academic Repression: Reflections from the Academic Industrial Complex. $19.95 (USD Retail) ldquo;This book puts the lie to the myth of academic freedom and that the university is an unabashed training ground for radicals.rdquo;-Richard Kahn, University of North Dakotaldquo;Essential reading for anyone concerned about the stifling of dissent and free expression in academia and beyond.rdquo;-Uri Gordon, author of Anarchy Alive!Since 9/11, the Bush administration has pressured universities to hand over faculty, staff, and student work to be flagged for potential threats. Numerous books have addressed the question of academic freedom over the years; this collection asks whether the concept of academic freedom still exists at all in the American university system. It addresses not only overt attacks on critical thinking, but also-following trends unfolding for decades-engages the broad socioeconomic determinants of academic culture.This edited anthology brings together prominent academics writing hard-hitting essays on free speech, culture wars, and academic freedom in a post-9/11 era. Itrsquo;s a powerful response to attacks on critical thinking in our universities by well-respected scholars and academics, including Joy James, Henry Giroux, Michael Parenti, Howard Zinn, Robert Jensen, Ward Churchill, and many more.Anthony J. Nocella II is completing his PhD work at Syracuse University.Steven Best, PhD , is an associate professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Texas, El Paso.Peter McLaren, PhD , is a professor of education in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles.

 

Al-Qaeda Goes to College: Impact of the War on Terror on American Higher Education. Praeger Publishers $49.95 (USD Retail) (Publisher)

This volume is the first book-length treatment of how the 9/11 attacks and the American political scene afterward have affected higher education in this country. It covers topics such as: universities' roles in training counter-terrorism experts, particularly anthropologists working in Iraq and Afghanistan; bio-terrorism research on campuses; inflammatory critiques by the likes of Ward Churchill; the conspiracy theories advocated by some academics regarding 9/11; lawsuits against universities by terror victims trying to get settlements from countries like Iran by seizing archaeological artifacts in American universities; accused Islamists teaching at American colleges, like Sami al-Arian at USF.

 

Dangerous Professors: Academic Freedom and the National Security Campus. University of Michigan Press  $29.95 (USD Retail) (Publisher)

 

Through various examinations of past and current threats to academic freedom,Dangerous Professorsinvestigates the status of such freedom in the aftermath of 9/11. Bringing together scholars in literature, law, and American Studies, the collection of essays seeks to understand academic freedom in historical perspective by focusing on the key documents that have defined its current meaning, and to then analyze the ways in which this concept protects but also limits critical voices on campus. Including essays from academics (Ward Churchill and Sami Al-Arian) who have been directly involved in recent controversies about academic freedom,Dangerous Professorsprovides a timely and critical look at the battle over educational curricula and institutions today.Malini Johar Schueller is Professor of English at the University of Florida, and author of several books and publications, includingU.S. Orientalisms: Race, Nation, and Gender in Literature, 1790-1890(Michigan, 1998) and the upcomingLocating Race: Global Sites of Post-Colonial Citizenship(2009).Ashley Dawson is Assistant Professor of English at the College of Staten Island, City University of New York."Dangerous Professorsis pertinent, well-executed, and introduces urgently needed perspectives regarding the present meaning and value of academic freedom on campus and, more broadly, in U.S. public and civil society." ---Adam Green, Associate Professor of History, University of Chicago

 

 

For the Common Good: Principles of American Academic Freedom. Yale University Press  $27.5

 

Debates about academic freedom have become increasingly fierce and frequent. Legislative efforts to regulate American professors proliferate across the nation.nbsp; Although most American scholars desire to protect academic freedom, they have only a vague and uncertain apprehension of its basic principles and structure.nbsp;This book offers a concise explanation of the history and meaning of American academic freedom, and it attempts to intervene in contemporary debates by clarifying the fundamental functions and purposes of academic freedom in America. nbsp; Matthew W. Finkin and Robert C. Post trace how the American conception of academic freedom was first systematically articulated in 1915 by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and how this conception was in subsequent years elaborated and applied by Committee A of the AAUP. The authors discuss the four primary dimensions of academic freedom research and publication, teaching, intramural speech, and extramural speech. They carefully distinguish academic freedom from the kind of individual free speech right that is created by the First Amendment. The authors strongly argue that academic freedom protects the capacity of faculty to pursue the scholars profession according to the standards of that profession.

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