Should Alice Goffman's Work Cost Her a Faculty Position?
In addition to demanding that Pomona withdraw its offer to Ms. Goffman, the authors called on the search committee, Mr. Oxtoby, and Ms. Bilger to meet with them; and they petitioned the committee to write a letter detailing "the lack of representative student involvement in the process" an...
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| Published in: | The Chronicle of Higher Education 2017-04 |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | eng |
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| Online Access: | Get full text |
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| Summary: | In addition to demanding that Pomona withdraw its offer to Ms. Goffman, the authors called on the search committee, Mr. Oxtoby, and Ms. Bilger to meet with them; and they petitioned the committee to write a letter detailing "the lack of representative student involvement in the process" and what steps the sociology department would take "to ensure such undemocratic, covert hiring processes are never repeated." "Goffman's hire proves the college's failure to wholeheartedly address underrepresentation of faculty of color and Pomona's institutional inadequacy to recognize and advocate for the best interests of students of color," the letter states. The Pomona letter touched on that issue and discussed "positionality," a sociological term describing how a person fits into a social structure with reference to characteristics like race and gender. [...]that happens, he said, Pomona's sociology department might not be a safe place for minority students to learn. [...]while concerns about faculty diversity are legitimate, Stanford's Mr. Freese said, "how does demonizing Alice Goffman serve that point?" There's always room to improve faculty diversity, Mr. Oxtoby said, but he believes Pomona is ahead of its institutional peers on that front. Sarah Brown writes about a range of higher-education topics, including sexual assault, race on campus, and Greek life. 1 - Alice Goffman, a sociologist at the U. of Wisconsin at Madison and author of the controversial book "On the Run," was hired as a visiting professor at Pomona College, a move that drew sharp criticism from some students and alumni, who demanded... |
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| ISSN: | 0009-5982 1931-1362 |