oct 30, 2014: met steven salaita this evening after his talk at the university of rochester. the topic was “digital means, political ends, and academic freedom in the new gilded age.” before steven took the stage, ted brown (u of r) talked about his work on the use of x-rays to treat skin conditions and his collaboration with israeli doctors. that research has opened his eyes to aspects of zionism he was unfamiliar with. lisa cerami (nazareth college) discussed the corporatization of american universities and the focus on profits. increasingly students are seen as the consumers of a certain “brand” which must be protected at all costs. the inequities that exist within that corporate system and the vulnerability of 75% of those who teach and who are non-tenure track faculty, mirror the inequities and labor class vulnerabilities which exist in american society at large. tom gibson (u of r) spoke about a long history of attacks on academic freedom starting with world war i. steven began his talk with palestine/israel, which is central to his present travails. he said he didn’t mince his words: the so-called conflict is about colonization and it will end with decolonization. he had no doubts about that. he talked about the importance of activism and the right to be compassionate as an academic who studies marginalized communities. it wasn’t enough to observe and document like a detached nature photographer. one of the points he made truly resonated with me. the idea of “civility” (his tweets were deemed “uncivil” and that’s one of the reasons he was fired by the university of illinois) and how it applies to his area of specialization, native american studies. the sheer violence meted out to indigenous peoples has always been expressed in very polite language, which makes that barbarity all the more insidious. civility is about toeing the neoliberal line, it’s about kowtowing to power and maintaining the status quo. the evening ended with excellent Q&A. great questions from a wide spectrum of political affiliations, and from steven: absolute respect, considered engagement and complete honesty. any university would be lucky to have him on their faculty – if education/learning is what matters in the end.
