Two new reports tell a similar story about democratic decline inside “the Western alliance”. One tracks the steep fall of academic freedom in the United States. The other shows Turkey sinking to the bottom of the World Press Freedom Index. Together, they suggest that NATO’s “allies” are increasingly aligned militarily, but drifting away from any … Read more
Episode 4: The Administrator Problem—More Royalist Than the King Episode 1- The Performance of Transparency Episode 2 – The Theater of Scholarly Collegiality Episode 3- The Q1 Journal Fetish Think of a curriculum reform meeting where the university administrator unveiled a new “strategic excellence framework.” The presentation featured organizational charts, key performance indicators, and deliverables. The word … Read more
While on the road, I could not share about this, but such unbelievable days. Summary of the Situation As of late May 2025, the Trump administration has revoked Harvard University’s authorization to enroll international students, both new and existing, under the federal Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP)1257. This action affects more than 6,800 current … Read more
On April 2, 2025, Tufts University released a formal declaration in support of Rümeysa Öztürk, a Turkish doctoral student facing detention and deportation. The following is the full text of the statement, signed by Tufts President Sunil Kumar, as submitted to the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts. University Declaration for Rümeysa Öztürk April 2, 2025 … Read more
For ages, I have written about the restrictive measures against academic freedom in Türkiye. It was nearly unthinkable to imagine this for the US setting, but here comes a period when American academics may be under more pressure than back home. Yesterday, I saw the news that Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate and pro-Palestinian … Read more
We weaponized anthropology. Why didn’t it work? The Fabius Maximus website (blog) Yesterday’s post recommended Weaponizing Anthropology: Social Science in Service of the Militarized State (2011) by David H. Price (Prof of anthropology at St. Martin’s U; bio here). In this great book he describes one facet of America’s militarization .. View image | gettyimages.com … Read more
Attempts to undermine professors’ abilities to teach and do research are increasingly directed at scholars who seek to provide a contextualized and critical view of recent international developments and their interaction with US foreign policies and practices. The first draft of the handbook was based on research undertaken by the Taskforce on Middle East Anthropology … Read more
Virtual Youth Issue Discussion Page Virtual Issue: ANTHROPOLOGY and YOUTH Cultural Anthropology‘s virtual issue on youth engages both longstanding anthropological themes, such as politics, religion, and consumption, as well as contemporary concerns including media, popular culture, and migration. With political and economic unrest washing through North Africa and the Middle East, youth are positioned, … Read more