Just another Augsburg College Blogs site

Our very own Harry Boyte’s article in The Hill is well worth reading.   Here is a teaser:

“In response to the wave of student protests this fall about racial discrimination and other issues on America’s campuses, some propose speech codes and other measures to turn campuses into safe spaces.  Others react with disgust. “This isn’t the behavior of people who are capable of weighing opposing ideas,” writes Glenn Reynolds in USA Today after protesters disrupted a free speech forum at Yale. “Spoiled children shouldn’t vote.”  Reynolds proposes raising the voting age to 25.

What critics and supporters of students have in common in our therapeutic age is little respect for students’ own agency, their potential to work through differences. Twenty five years of experience with a youth civic education initiative called Public Achievement have taught me an opposite lesson: young people are hungry for opportunities to learn the skills and concepts to handle conflicts and make constructive change.”  Harry C. Boyte

http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/education/260821-teaching-democratic-values

Check out William Deresiewicz’s essay in Harpers, “The Neo-Liberal Arts: How College Sold Its Soul to the Market.”

Please check out the latest edition of the AAUP’s publication, Academe.  The latest issue has a number of very good articles on students as consumers, the business model in academe, the costs of downsizing, and the trend toward selling off college/university land for private corporate use.

Nearly 100 years ago, the American Association of University Professors issued the 1915 Declaration of Principles on Academic Freedom and Academic Tenure. AAUP principles helped build the largest and most successful system of higher education in the world.

The AAUP is now asking member chapters to sign on support a new declaration of principles for the 21st century that restores the status of colleges and universities as a public good. Please read the AAUP Centennial Declaration and let Elise Marubbio (marubbio@augsburg.edu) know if you support our chapter signing on.

Henry Giroux

From time to time we’ll post articles about higher education. Here’s one by Henry Giroux titled Academic Madness and the Politics of Exile on ideological fundamentalism in North America.

At our meeting on November 17th, Augsburg’s Chapter of the AAUP voted to endorse the  Campaign for the Future of Higher Education‘s  list of Higher Education Principles.  Supporters across the nation are signing up to support these principles.

The Campaign asks:

“Would you like to have a representative on the Steering Committee of CFHE?  There are no dues and we do most of our work by monthly conference call.”

If so, you can contact Susan Meisenhelder at <smeisenhelder@calfac.org>

“We’d also like to invite you to join our “working group” list serv.  This is a list serv where we share information.  It’s used by very busy people, so we are careful not to spam one another!  If you or any of your colleagues would like to join, its’ very easy to do so: just send a message to Cfhe_wg-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. (Note that there is an underscore after Cfhe.) You will receive a confirmation email within a few seconds (make sure to check your Junk folder, if it does not appear in you Inbox).  Click “Reply” and “Send.”  You will then be subscribed.”

Welcome to the Augsburg Chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP)!

We will be using this site to share information about our chapter of AAUP and how to join, what our local chapter has been up to, AAUP events, and articles and stories about higher education.

Our mission is to lead by listening and advocating.  We provide an inclusive space for colleagues to thoughtfully question and carefully deliberate; engage significant on-campus issues; voice faculty, staff, and student concerns; share insights on trends in higher education; advocate for faculty rights; and foster best practices in teaching and learning.

2014-2015 Augsburg Chapter AAUP Officers – please e-mail an officer if you have concerns you would like to share with AAUP:

Elise Marubbio, President – marubbio@augsburg.edu

Michael Lansing, Vice President – lansing@augsburg.edu

Douglas Green, Past President – green@augsburg.edu

Cass Dalglish, Treasurer – dalglish@augsburg.edu

Nancy Fischer, Secretary – fischern@augsburg.edu

Have an idea for a blog post that you’d like to share? Please e-mail Nancy Fischer or Elise Marubbio.