At UW-Madison, there is a professor who is teaching students 9-11 was set up by the government to gain support to go to war against Iraq and other Arab countries...
There is no proof of it, it is a flat out lie.
The UW system said they are not going to do anything to him because of academic freedom.
So "academic freedom" means you can say ANYTHING you want?
Professors can make up anything and teach it?
Is that really what academic freedom is about?
From Charlie Sykes:
The provost offers this fig-leaf:
""There is no question that Mr. Barrett holds personal opinions that many people find unconventional," Farrell says. "These views are expected to take a small, but significant, role in the class. To the extent that his views are discussed, Mr. Barrett has assured me that students will be free - and encouraged - to challenge his viewpoint."
Unconventional? That Dick Cheney murdered 3,000 Americans?
That Karl Rove murdered Paul Wellstone?
And this is OK to bring up in at UW class on Islam? We now know what constitutes academic standards at UW.
Farrell also offer this self-serving pabulum:
"We cannot allow political pressure from critics of unpopular ideas to inhibit the free exchange of ideas. That classroom interaction is central to this university's mission and to the expansion of knowledge. Silencing that exchange now would only open the door to more onerous and sweeping restrictions," he says.
So there would be no problem with teaching that (for example) Martin Luther King Jr. actually shot JFK? That Bill Clinton ordered the bombing of the USS Cole? That UW President Kevin Reilly was a serial killer? That the holocaust is a Jewish myth? That the earth is flat? That Hillary Rodham Clinton is a space clone who murdered Ken Lay? These could be considered "unpopular ideas," and scholars who pointed out that they are the sheerest crap could be accused of using political pressure to "inhibit the free exchange of ideas." For which -- by the way -- the evidence is exactly as solid as the "evidence" Kevin Barrett has.
9-11 flap won't stop UW lecturer
Lecturer denounces critics of his 9-11 teachings
Sept. 11 claim stirs UW probe
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
How far does academic freedom go?
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12 comments:
Why are Cons such hypocrites? If he has his class, and enough research to back his conspiracy theory up, then why cant he teach it? Isnt this where he fails if nobody takes his crackpot class? Cons claim that excuse for everything else.
this isn't about academic freedom or free speech
This is about whether or not the UW wants to be seen as a serious institute of higher education
Hiring a nutjob like this takes the shine of that diploma on the wall.
I don't think the University of Phoenix or DeVry or any of those schools that Sally Struthers pushes would touch this guy with a ten meter cattle prod
Those arent real schools, either. Anyone who teaches at a real school needs to have legitimate sources and finding to back their class. Personaly, I dont know what this guy teaches in that class, so I cant say. However, if he doesnt, then UW should be ashamed. If he does, then we treat the students as the adults they are, and allow them to make their own decision as to the validity of the class and what it teaches.
The Bushies have lied so much they are literally driving people nuts. This guy is nuts, clearly, but so is anyone who trusts the Bushies.
thanks for stopping by....just stop with the fact that this guy is crazy...have the bush bashing for another time
Rhyno--
People should not be allowed to teach falsehoods on the public dole. I have a future in education, and don't have a problem firing bad faculty.
Many students don't want to take crackpot cultural diversity classes, but universities like UIC where I attend require them to keep the Marxists employed. I'm satisfying my cultural diversity requirement now by taking Race and Ethnic Relations, a course on how evil white people are.
This is a total joke, given how most other departments in the humanities are under Marxist control. Learning about literature, for example, is reading Shakespeare and finding all of the racist, sexist, heterosexual, imperialist, ethnocentric, logo-centric, and phallocentric elements in it. Higher education has become a game of burn the heretic. Outside of the sciences and a few other rigorous fields, education is a total and complete fraud.
OMG, jason...the fact you are going into education is very scary. Also, did you actually read what I wrote. It does not read like it at all.
Most of this guys theories(I know whats up now, having spent 3 hours looking shit up and cross-referencing) comes down to what I have said so many times on this blog. Because most high ranking members of the administration are liars, cover-up artists and overly secretive....there will always be excessive doubt placed on them. With a tad of honesty or integrity in anyone involved, they could easily debunk lots of these theories that only exist because they dodge all the questions.
Dear david, get a clue. If you ever walked into a classroom at a university and thought everything was truth, you shouldnt be there. That goes for every student at every college or university in the world. Get a clue david...again. You will still find high schools in the south that teach a very different version of the truth than the rest of the world would argue for. That goes for the colleges, too. Does this mean the colleges shouldnt be allowed to operate under debunked theories? No. It means that the best schools are all firmly ensconced here in the North and West because there isnt interest in going to such a debased institution.
DISCLAIMER: I have only 6 friends who went to universities in the south, and all hated it. Only one went on to graduate, and the rest quickly returned to the land of sanity. I view their tales much like a car wreck, with fascination and pure revulsion.
I'm sorry...but when I read these comments there is nothing to add...
rhyno makes no sense, the fact that anyone would think this is fine is crazy...and Jason makes total sense...
this is crazy, its crap, and if you believe it you are quite a simple person to believe such crap
So Rhyno, it would be ok for someone to teach that the Holocaust never happened or that black people were actually doing the lynchings in the south or any number of crackpot theories were the truth? Maybe the science department should teach that the sky is green and grass is blue and math teachers should insist 2+2 is 5, because I'm sure they could come up with enough "research" to justify it.
What do U of Wis Alumni think??
Uh, jason and gbp, people do teach those things. Thats what I am trying to tell you. Its not widespread because it cant exist in areas where education, true education and critical thinking, exist.
Take jason who said this, "Outside of the sciences and a few other rigorous fields, education is a total and complete fraud." Should he be vilified for going into education with that attitude? The simple truth about the humanities is that sex, hatred, insecurity and all the other negative human traits DO power our senses and actions at least as much as the positive. Any attempt to claim otherwise is ridiculous.
OK, not sex, I meant LUST. :P
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