JUST IN - AAUP report on fundamental violations of academic freedom and tenure in five colleges and universities in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. For the full report, go to www.aaup.org/AAUP/protect/academicfreedom/investrep/2007/katrina.htm
First Antioch-Yellow Springs, now Pacific Oaks?
You may be aware of the closure of the Antioch College- Yellow Springs campus. This link is to a recent news story about the closure.
We are concerned that the threat to Pacific Oaks and the closure
of Antioch - Yellow Springs may be part of a larger cultural intolerance for the values of progressive education. The following article by Henry Giroux, MacMaster University, Chair, Global Television Network in English and Cultural Studies articulates this concern. Professor Giroux is one of the founding theorists of critical pedagogy in the United States. He is best known for his pioneering work in public pedagogy, cultural studies, youth studies, higher education, media studies and critical theory. He writes, "Where I grew up learning was a collective activity. But when I got to school and tried to share learning with other students that was called cheating. The curriculum sent the clear message to me that learning was a highly individualistic, almost secretive, endeavor. My working-class experience didn't count. Not only did it not count, it was disparaged." - Giroux in Border Crossing (1993). Following is a link to Giroux's article Academic Repression in the First Person: The Attack on Higher Education and the Necessity of Critical Pedagogy. www.campus-watch.org/article/id/3062
BREAKING NEWS
New College in San Francisco, a progressive college “committed to education in support of a just, sacred, and sustainable world", founded in 1971, is also in grave danger. For details see the story in http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/08/01/newcollege.