We appreciate the recent statement on academic freedom from President Price and Provost Kornbluth following the US Department of Education’s investigation of the Duke-UNC Consortium for Middle East studies. We also welcome the letter to the DOE from 18 American academic associations—including the Middle East Studies Association, the Modern Language Association, and the American Anthropological Association—who characterized the investigation as “an unprecedented and counterproductive intervention into academic curricula and programming that threatens the integrity and autonomy of our country’s institutions of higher education.”
The Federal investigation is the culmination of a decades-long campaign by anti-Palestinian organizations against academic programing and curricular offerings that are deemed insufficiently “pro-Israel.” This investigation targeted a Middle East center, but should concern all of us. Today, all teachers and scholars are at risk when not aligned with national policy and national security priorities. At stake, in the current moment, is the ability of Universities to operate freely and openly without the fear of censure, and the ability of faculty to determine what they “teach, how they teach it, what they choose to research or write about, or who can speak on our campus.” Duke’s continued commitment to open debate is vital. The integrity of our University demands an educational climate where free and open inquiry is encouraged and fostered, in and out of the classroom, even on the most controversial subjects.
Signed,
Elizabeth Albright, Assistant Professor of the Practice, Nicholas School of the Environment
Anne Alison, Professor, Cultural Anthropology
Abdullah T. Antepli, Associate Professor of the Practice, Sanford School of Public Policy
Nancy Armstrong, Professor, English
Fadi Bardawil, Assistant Professor, Asian & Middle East Studies
Nicole Barnes, Assistant Professor, History
Amal Boumaaza, Lecturing Fellow, Asian & Middle East Studies
Guy-Uriel E. Charles, Professor, Law School
Joan Clifford, Assistant Professor of the Practice, Romance Studies
Miriam Cooke, Professor Emerita, Asian & Middle East Studies
Sheila Dillon, Professor, Art, Art History, and Visual Studies (Chair)
Prasenjit Duara, Professor, History
Katharine Dubois, Lecture Fellow, History
Jan Ewald, Professor Emerita, History
Luciana Fellin, Associate Professor of the Practice, Romance Studies
Sara Galletti, Associate Professor, Art, Art History & Visual Studies
Shai Ginsburg, Associate Professor, Asian & Middle East Studies
