[lbo-talk] A question for those in American accademia

[Andy]

On Thu, Sep 4, 2014 at 7:50 PM, Joseph Catron <jncatron at gmail.com> wrote:


> Just how big of a deal is the current shit-show around the University of
> Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's firing of Steven Salaita for his outspoken
> anti-Zionism?
>
> I've seen Zionists essentially call it a tempest in a teapot, and my
> knowledge of academic politics is so weak, I have no idea if they could be
> telling the truth.
>
> Some on our side make it sound more like the storm of the century, but our
> side (not necessarily the same ones) can have reasons to exaggerate things,
> too.
>
> Does anyone with more experience in such matters care to offer a somewhat
> objective analysis of the scale of the situation?
>

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/01/education/illinois-university-prompts-outcry-for-revoking-job-offer-to-professor-in-wake-of-twitter-posts-on-israel.html

(This, of course, is out of date -- see Crooked Timber/Corey Robin's blog
for the latest)

Andy
"It's a testament to ketchup that there can be no confusion."