Alongside 150 colleagues from throughout the University of California system, including many major figures in Middle East Studies: Stacy Fahrenthold, Heghnar Watenpaugh, Patricia Morton, Sholeh Quinn; those engaged in cutting-edge Holocaust research: UCLA's Michael Rothberg, and leading and rising historians and area studies specialists: Marian Schlotterbeck and Archana Venkatesan, we sent a letter to UC President Michael Drake calling on him to rescind his plan to spend millions of dollars imposing “viewpoint neutral history of the #MiddleEast ” on our campuses and students.
We explain that if the UC administration determines “how and what we teach” in our field, it will “set a chilling precedent” affecting the teaching of all topics of public concern and critical debate like climate change, histories of racism, #genocide, and mass atrocity.
We note that his statements question the academic integrity of “scholars already engaged in the historical study and teaching of the Middle East,” and remind him that “the sole responsibility for maintaining the quality of our universities’ academic programs” rests with the faculty. We ask him to “to reaffirm the independence and integrity of UC faculty to educate without outside interference; to rescind the call for “viewpoint-neutral history” that directly undermines the prerogative and ability of UC faculty to educate students.”
And we ask him to reaffirm his commitment to protecting academic freedom and the First Amendment right to free speech for students, faculty and staff around the war in Gaza, Israel/Palestine and any other issue of public concern and debate. #AcademicFreedom #history