Shows
The SyllabusSimon Feldman and Afshan Jafar“The modes by which we transmit these beliefs and values are not just like we walk into the room, and we announce, ‘You only get an A if you write a paper that conforms with my preferred worldview,’” says Connecticut College philosopher Simon Feldman. In this week’s episode of The Syllabus, Feldman and his colleague Afshan Jafar join Mark Oppenheimer to talk about what professors’ politics should and should not mean in the classroom—and how the right, they feel, has distorted the topic. Guest Bios: Afshan Jafar: Afshan Jafar is the chair of th...2024-05-0934 min
The SyllabusAfshan Jafar and Simon Feldman“The modes by which we transmit these beliefs and values are not just like we walk into the room, and we announce, ‘You only get an A if you write a paper that conforms with my preferred worldview,’” says Connecticut College philosopher Simon Feldman. In this week’s episode of The Syllabus, Feldman and his colleague Afshan Jafar join Mark Oppenheimer to talk about what professors’ politics should and should not mean in the classroom—and how the right, they feel, has distorted the topic. Guest Bios: Afshan Jafar: Afshan Jafar is the chair of th...2024-05-0934 min
AAUP PresentsPolitical Interference and Academic Freedom in Florida’s Public Higher Education System.In this podcast we discuss the AAUP's special report Political Interference and Academic Freedom in Florida’s Public Higher Education System. The report offers an in-depth review of a pattern of politically, racially, and ideologically motivated attacks on public higher education in Florida, which have largely occurred during the term of Governor Ron DeSantis. The guests are Afshan Jafar, a professor of Sociology at Connecticut College and a co-chair of the special committee, Henry Reichman, professor of history California State University, East Bay, also a co-chair of the committee, and Liz Leininger, a neuroscience professor who was pre...2023-12-051h 01
AAUP PresentsThe Case of Dr. Mark McPhailIn this episode we discuss the AAUP’s new investigative report on the summary suspension and dismissal of Dr. Mark McPhail, at Indiana University Northwest. In September 2021, the administration dispatched campus police officers to McPhail’s home to inform him that he had been dismissed and banned from campus, supposedly for making racially charged threats of physical violence. No accuser was identified, and no criminal charges were filed. An AAUP investigation found that, in acting against McPhail, the administration disregarded AAUP-supported standards of academic due process. The committee deemed “implausible” the charge that McPhail had made violent...2023-02-1536 minAAUP PresentsGovernance, Academic Freedom & Institutional Racism in the UNC System On April 28 the AAUP released a report of the Special Committee on Governance, Academic Freedom, and Institutional Racism in the University of North Carolina System. The report considers the influence of the North Carolina state legislature on the systemwide board of governors and campus boards of trustees. It discusses how political pressure and top-down leadership have obstructed meaningful faculty participation in the UNC system, jeopardized academic freedom, and reinforced institutional racism.The guests are the co-chairs of the special committee that wrote the report, Nicholas Fleisher, professor of Linguistics at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and Afshan J...2022-04-2834 min