10:43PM
Finkelstein barred from teaching
Issandr El Amrani
Normal Finkelstein is barred from teaching, despite from having one year left on his teaching contract at DePaul University:
The required reading was at the bookstore, the students had the course syllabus, and space in Political Science 235, "Equality in Social Justice," was standing-room only when DePaul University pulled the plug Friday on what was to have been Norman Finkelstein's final year at the school.More on Finkelstein's site.
A controversial scholar—accused by critics of fomenting anti-Semitism and lauded by supporters as a forthright critic of Israel—Finkelstein attracted wide attention across the academic world when he was denied tenure in the spring.
By Monday, the books for his course had been pulled from the DePaul bookstore's shelves, while his case was restarting a firestorm of protest. The American Association of University Professors was preparing a letter to the university, protesting Finkelstein's treatment as a serious violation of academic ethics.
Finkelstein vowed not to take the rebuff lying down—or, perhaps more correctly, to do something just like that. In addition to canceling his course, the university informed him that his office was no longer his.
"I intend to go to my office on the first day of classes and, if my way is barred, to engage in civil disobedience," Finkelstein, 53, said in a telephone interview. "If arrested, I'll go on a hunger strike. If released, I'll do it all over again. I'll fast in jail for as long as it takes."
Reader Comments (3)
That is beyond ridiculous, and Finkelstein should sue. DePaul is going to make itself a laughing stock and lose good faculty if it acts like it's being run by Amn al-Dawla or something. What a shame, for a school that actually managed to combine a lefty bent with good scholarship.
[...] of hatred and has recently resulted in the denial of his tenure at DePaul University, the Arabist chimes in… By Monday, the books for his course had been pulled from the DePaul bookstore’s shelves, [...]
[...] ومؤخراً تسببت بØرمانه من رئاسة جامعة دي بول, العربي يقول عن ذلك [انكليزي]… بØلول يوم الاثنين كتب مادته كانت قد سØبت [...]