Posted December 26, 2014, by Mary Grabar: Happy Boxing Day, the day when servants in Merry Olde England received their gifts. I hope that all the Dissident Profs out there, many of whom labor as adjuncts for very little pay, have a more prosperous year next year. To read some of their stories, please purchase Exiled, the collection of stories from supporters of this site.
Some professors who are not exiled, who are enjoying the largesse of taxpayers through their institutions, are professors who were attacking police on Brooklyn Bridge. like Eric Linsker, an alleged poet who teaches at CUNY College. The graduate of the University of Iowa writing program and attendee of Harvard, writes such profundity as "F--- the police." In a Norman Mailer-like move, he demonstrated his street smarts; fortunately, he and his peers were prevented from throwing garbage pails off the bridge at police officers. Had they succeeded they could have killed innocent officers. Linsker is still scheduled to teach in the spring at full pay. Seems if you quote Plato or the Founding Fathers, you will be lucky to teach freshman classes, but if you write puerile anti-cop poetry and attempt murder on them, you will have steady employment. And maybe a publishing contract for your new book of "poetry."
Linsker is one of six suspects who assaulted police on December 13. So far, other academics have been identified. Cindy Gorn is a graduate student at Columbia University. and Zachary Campbell is a Rutgers graduate student and instructor in Spanish. Apparently, these individuals were able to take time from grading papers to rouse the mobs even more against the police. And although the postmodern theory that informs scholarship works under the assumption that language is the "house of being" (to use Martin Heidegger's phrase), there seems to be no connection seen between the teaching of hate-filled lessons against police, chanting about death to the police, and the assassination of two New York City cops.
Alas, the protests are the basis for school lessons, K-12, as well. Over at the National Association of Scholars, Ashley Thorne provides a good overview of what is being sent to teachers, and the inadequacies of the lesson plans, in her post, "'Teaching Ferguson.'" Also, for balance all should read Tina Trent's blog post, "It Takes a Village to Kill a Cop."
Those who would like to teach real civics lessons (the blindness of justice, etc.) will find very little at the U.S. Department of Education, where missives are sent to "Celebrate Diversity During the Holidays" and news from Arne Duncan. Among the Department's 10 favorite photos of 2014 is one of the stoic-faced Secretary of Education marching with Al Sharpton at the Black Lives Matter march in Washington on December 13. (The Dissident Prof wonders why this is the only photo in black and white. Perhaps it's to give the Secretary 1960s cred, you know, marching to save the world and all that.) No word yet about a statement from the Secretary about police lives mattering.
This is the person who is imposing education policies (in conjunction with the Attorney General) that are giving favorable treatment to disciplining students and imposing the dumbed-down Common Core "standards." (For a quick look at how dumbed-down the "standards" are, read Professor Sandra Stotsky's column, "How to Make Common Core Useful?")
At the local level, pro-Common Core activists are engaging in quasi-illegal activities, such as attempting to oust the just-elected Arizona state school superintendent. Read Rachel Alexander's excellent post at SFPPR News, "Recall Starts Before Anti-Common Core Arizona Schools Superintendent Even Takes Office."
Real Education about Totalitarianism: Fortunately, efforts to inform students and community members about totalitarianism are taking place at the Alexander Hamilton Institute for the Study of Western Civilization. Recently, the Institute hosted Skidmore College professor Flagg Taylor for two events: a leadership dinner for students and community, and a guest lecture at Dr. David Frisk's community education class, "Modern Statesmanship and Leadership." Understanding the various manifestations of totalitarianism is more important than ever. Read the article, here, at www.theahi.org, here.
Being a Goldwater Girl: As you probably know by now, the Dissident Prof is a resident fellow at AHI, and recently enjoyed attending the Goldwater 50th Anniversary Dinner and Forum in Washington, D.C., thanks to the Institute. You can read the article about it here. What a privilege to meet many of those involved in the historical campaign. I am so happy to be a Goldwater Girl!
