Odds are you haven’t heard of Ttile VI of the International Studies in Higher Education Act of 2003 – but if it passes the Senate, it’ll be an enourmous loss for academic freedom and free speech.<\/p>\n
It already passed the House last fall (it’s bill number is H.R. 3077<\/a> – follow that link and then click on “printer friendly display” to read the bill’s text), and is expected to come up in the Senate soon. If it becomes law, what Title VI will do is creat an “International Higher Education Board,” which will review International Studies programs at universities and reccomend to the Secretary of Education and Congress which programs should continue getting grants.<\/p>\n According to Stanley Kurtz<\/a>, a proponant of Title VI,<\/p>\n So goverment appointees will review academic programs to decide if they’re patriotic enough to continue recieving funding. So much for free speech.<\/p>\n Since this bill, if passed, is expected to come down hardest on academic critics of Israel, most of the American Jewish lobbying organizations are in favor of it. Even so, there’s been some opposition. From The Forward<\/i>:<\/a><\/p>\n “This bill is bad both on its merits and because of the way it makes us look,” said a senior official with a major Jewish organization, who spoke on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n Controversy over the bill burst into the open last month at the annual assembly of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, a consultative group that brings together 123 local community relations councils and 13 national Jewish agencies, most of which support the bill. A resolution supporting the bill was proposed, but not approved, at the parley, after Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, speaking from the podium at one of the sessions, described the legislation as a “far-right-wing effort underway to allow for governmental monitoring of Middle Eastern studies at American universities.” […]<\/p>\n Opponents of the bill say that an advisory board made up of political appointees will become partisan and therefore ideologically motivated. The advisory body will be composed of “people who want to engage in a witch hunt,” said Rashid Khalidi, who directs Columbia University’s Middle East Institute.<\/p>\n Proponents counter that the board will not dictate criteria for objectivity and balance, but merely serve as a “repository for complaints,” said the ADL’s Lieberman, although it will be in a position to recommend withdrawing funds from problematic grantees.<\/p><\/div>\n Further reading: op-ed in The Jewish Journal<\/a>; comment from the ACLU<\/a>.<\/p>\n But don’t bother looking for a comment from FIRE, the right-wing group that likes to pat itself on the back for protecting campus free speech. As of today, months after the House passed H.R. 3007, FIRE still hasn’t said a word about it<\/a>. When they say they’re against censorship, they’re apparently not including censorship from the right.<\/p>\n UPDATE<\/b>: Go read Juan Cole’s blog<\/a> for a more detailed, informed anti-Title-VI post. Juan also has suggestions for writing or faxing your senator. (Link via Raznor<\/a> in the comments.).<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Odds are you haven’t heard of Ttile VI of the International Studies in Higher Education Act of 2003 – but if it passes the Senate, it’ll be an enourmous loss for academic freedom and free speech. It already passed the … Continue reading