Kristof missed the boat on this one. If he wants to know why professors are reluctant to enter public debate, he needs to address the quality of public debate in the US political arena. The governor of Wisconsin and attorney general of Virginia both recently used the powers of their offices to investigate and threaten the livelihoods of professors who opposed their political agendas (labor unions and climate change, respectively). Few people are going to tolerate that sort of abuse, and will prefer to debate with those who are actually interested in debate, not just in silencing their opposition. In short, people much more powerful than Kristof have essentially demanded that professor NOT bring their expertise to bear on public debate and professors, understandably, have mostly complied.
Chris ....... Christopher D Green Department of Psychology York University Toronto, ON M6C 1G4 chri...@yorku.ca http://www.yorku.ca/christo > On Feb 20, 2014, at 12:34 AM, Richard Hake <rrh...@earthlink.net> wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > Some subscribers to TIPS might be interested in a discussion-list "Re: > Professors We Need You!" [Hake (2014)]. The abstract reads: > > ************************************************** > > The LrnAsst List's Norman Stahl at <http://bit.ly/O06Tjn> and Nick Voge at > <http://bit.ly/1j8wBMT> have called attention to Nicholas Kristof's NYT > Opinion piece "Professors, We Need You!" at <http://nyti.ms/1oIs7jD>. > > In a subsequent blog entry "Bridging the Moat Around Universities" > <http://nyti.ms/1kOp8Wi>, Kristof: > > (a) wrote: "[Professors, We Need You! was] about the unfortunate way America > has marginalized university professors – and, perhaps sadder still, the way > they have marginalized themselves from public debate"; > > (b) posted 313 comments (as of 19 Feb 2014 09:04-0800) on his opinion piece, > about equally divided between approval and disapproval. > > One of more substantive comments is by Aaron Barlow, faculty editor of the > AAUP magazine "Academe," who pointed to "Public Intellectuals and the AAUP" > (Schrecker at <http://bit.ly/NZH5E5>, and "The Case for Academics as Public > Intellectuals" (Behm, Rankins-Robertson, & Roen (BRR) at > <http://bit.ly/1dDTZky>. (BRR + commentors on BRR + myself) list about 40 > academicians who have "bridged the moat around universities." > > But the fact that 40 [out of a total of over a million higher-education > faculty] have "bridged the moat" does not negate Kristof's general claim that > "[professors] have marginalized themselves." > > ************************************************** > > To access the complete 61 kB post please click on <http://bit.ly/1hw62E1>. > > > > Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana University; Honorary > Member, Curmudgeon Lodge of Deventer, The Netherlands; President, PEdants for > Definitive Academic References which Recognize the Invention of the Internet > (PEDARRII); LINKS TO: Academia <http://bit.ly/a8ixxm>; Articles > <http://bit.ly/a6M5y0>; Blog <http://bit.ly/9yGsXh>; Facebook > <http://on.fb.me/XI7EKm>; GooglePlus <http://bit.ly/KwZ6mE>; Google Scholar > <http://bit.ly/Wz2FP3>; Linked In <http://linkd.in/14uycpW>; Research Gate > <http://bit.ly/1fJiSwB>; Socratic Dialogue Inducing (SDI) Labs > <http://bit.ly/9nGd3M>; Twitter <http://bit.ly/juvd52>. > > > > REFERENCES [URLs shortened by <http://bit.ly/ and accessed on 19 Feb 2014.] > > Hake, R.R. 2014. "Re: Professors We Need You!" online on the OPEN! AERA-L > archives at <http://bit.ly/1hw62E1>. The abstract and link to the complete > post are being transmitted to several discussion lists and are on my blog > "Hake'sEdStuff" at <http://bit.ly/1oThbQl>. > > > > > > > > > --- > > You are currently subscribed to tips as: chri...@yorku.ca. > > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=430248.781165b5ef80a3cd2b14721caf62bd92&n=T&l=tips&o=34401 > > (It may be necessary to cut and paste the above URL if the line is broken) > > or send a blank email to > leave-34401-430248.781165b5ef80a3cd2b14721caf62b...@fsulist.frostburg.edu > > > > > > --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=34411 or send a blank email to leave-34411-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
