IntellectualsMustNotBeSilent
NiemollerVille
Post-secondary rank-and-file academics like myself live a very good life.
Oh, sure, there's lots of complaining and moaning about all manner of petty things, including some of the stuff that I was kinda/sorta jokingly moaning about last fall.
But here's the thing - regardless the teaching load and/or administrative duties, in a job like this you still have a good chunk of time to do what you want when it comes to your 'scholarly' activity. Personally, I'm lucky enough that I get to spend most of that time working with a fantastic group of people, many of them young and energized, trying to make a small dent in the universe.
There is an off-shoot to this scholarly stuff that boomerangs back into the administrative realm, however. This is acting as an independent/outside 'referee' for folks going forward for such things as tenure and promotion. Given that I have been around for a long time and have a pretty good handle on what's significant (and what is not) in my field, I get a reasonable number of requests to be such a referee.
Essentially, the requests come from the institution involved. Normally, if I deem myself appropriate to give an informed review, I'm happy to oblige because that's the way our world works, no questions asked.
The exception to this rule of thumb occurred last fall when I declined such a request on principle because of concerns that had been raised on a number of front's about a certain US'ian state government's highjacking of their public post-secondary system, this being just one particularly egregious example.
Well...
It turns out that things keep getting worse for post-secondary education in the Sunshine State:
Last fall, with little explanation, Florida Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. proposed removing sociology from the menu of courses university students can take to meet graduation requirements. On Wednesday, he spoke more clearly, suggesting that sociology studies could veer into “identity politics or theories,” in violation of a new state law.
“Students should be focused on learning the truth about our country instead of being radicalized by woke ideology in our college classrooms,” Diaz said in comments to the State Board of Education.
A short time later, the board unanimously approved two rules that will apply to Florida’s 28 state colleges. One prohibits spending on diversity efforts. The other removes sociology as an option to fulfill state requirements for what are known as the “general education” or “core” courses that all students must take...
{snip}
...“I think the statute is clear that, within the general education core code, courses may not distort significant historical events or include curriculum that teaches identity politics or theories,” Diaz said. “And I think when you go into the sociology course, you’re talking about theories, and that’s an option that students have to explore those theories in a nongeneral education course.”...
Now, if you've been stopping by here occasionally for awhile (and/or have clicked through on the first link, above) you will know that I do not ply my scholarly trade in the humanities.
But.
Leaving aside all those 'theories' that are taught all over the place for the moment, including in biology courses where evolution often comes up, there is the following to consider, as noted by fellow academic PZ Myers:
'...First they came for the sociology departments, but I was not a sociologist...'
Enough said?
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