Wow, the message seems like doubletalk; if the case isn't what it appears to be, the president should clarify - the phrase "with freedom comes responsibility" is utterly loaded -
On Mon, 2 Apr 2018, Scott MacDonald wrote:
Here is a message the MassArt president sent out recently: Dear MassArt Faculty: We?re in the news, as many of you have seen and heard. Some of you have reached out with questions and concerns, so I wanted to send a personal note to all of you to unequivocally express where I stand on some important issues.? ?We all share the conviction that academic freedom and creative expression are essential to the identity of MassArt. Academic freedom is your right as faculty. One of my responsibilities as president is to help you preserve it. Please know that I will always stand with you in defending academic freedom in the classroom and in your research and creative activity.? I believe we also understand that with freedom comes responsibility. We have responsibility to our students and to our staff and faculty colleagues. Among the most basic of those responsibilities is to respect the dignity of every person and to engage with one another in a collegial manner. These values are not incommensurate with one another. Freedom, creativity, respect, collegiality exist together at MassArt. That?s the kind of community that welcomed me, and that?s the kind of community I intend to nurture and preserve.? ?As a campus community aspiring to justice and equity, we grapple with many difficult issues. We will continue to grapple with many difficult issues. And as the university enterprise attests, answers are often not easy. Your role as faculty, engaging difficult issues in your classrooms and leading by example, is the heart of MassArt, and I thank you for your dedication to students and student learning.? While I am unable to discuss the particulars of personnel matters, let me clarify that no faculty member has had their academic freedom abridged in a disciplinary action, nor has anyone been forced to retire over matters of academic freedom. Any reports to the contrary, in the media or on social media, are untrue.? Sincerely, David David P. Nelson, President Reading between the lines, I suspect that what may be at issue is not so much the films (of course, teaching film seriously is all about disturbance and always has been and should be), but Saul's tendency to--I'm quoting D. H. Lawrence--?Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you've got to say, and say it hot.? Many of us who have known Saul for awhile have become accustomed to his saying things hot (something almost de rigueur for activists a generation ago), but it may be upsetting now to colleagues (and perhaps students). It may mean differently now. Scott On Mon, Apr 2, 2018 at 9:59 AM, Scott Dorsey <[email protected]> wrote: Wait a minute.? Students took a class about art that was intended to be disturbing and then they got angry because it disturbed them? This is nothing.? When I was in school, they made me take differential equations _in spite of my express complaints that it made me uncomfortable_ and refused to allow me to graduate until I had taken it. I thought being disturbed by things was what university was all about? --scott _______________________________________________ FrameWorks mailing list [email protected] https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
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