Thanks, Michael. Your comments on the draft were very helpful!
I just saw an article by Lee Jussim from four years ago in Psychology Today about all of the cancellations, disinvitations, and other punishments meted out on college campuses even at that point. I know there are many. more since from records kept at FIRE and NAS (National Association of Scholars). This suggests to me that the censorious climate is expanding. I hope that librarians can offer options (with others) to overcome this problem, which is multi-layered. And I also hope that librarians can offer positive alternatives to support free expression norms and a genuinely inclusive (using that word in a better way here) campus environment that improves conversations--"the discourse"--that are the basis for scholarship and teaching.
I've been doing some reading before I see Oppenheimer. I grew up at a time when being a McCarthyite was the worst disparagement. Of course, this was underscored by movies and novels. I decided to read more about the Alger Hiss case. I read Chambers' Witness. Chambers illuminates the apparatus of the Communist party in DC in the 30s--a world in which Oppenheimer was familiar. To some degree like the Cambridge Five...and the participants were similar. Over the years a lot of this has been elided, maybe not even known to people now. I read a few reviews of Oppenheimer complaining it is too long and spent too much time on his New Deal and communist connections. But what you write of here I think has its roots in the current generation not realizing the 1930s and having it erased by the popular idea of McCarthy as evil at a time before Stalin was understood.
Excellent article Craig! Looking forward to the others in the series!
Thanks, Michael. Your comments on the draft were very helpful!
I just saw an article by Lee Jussim from four years ago in Psychology Today about all of the cancellations, disinvitations, and other punishments meted out on college campuses even at that point. I know there are many. more since from records kept at FIRE and NAS (National Association of Scholars). This suggests to me that the censorious climate is expanding. I hope that librarians can offer options (with others) to overcome this problem, which is multi-layered. And I also hope that librarians can offer positive alternatives to support free expression norms and a genuinely inclusive (using that word in a better way here) campus environment that improves conversations--"the discourse"--that are the basis for scholarship and teaching.
Thank you Craig for this lengthy exploration!
I've been doing some reading before I see Oppenheimer. I grew up at a time when being a McCarthyite was the worst disparagement. Of course, this was underscored by movies and novels. I decided to read more about the Alger Hiss case. I read Chambers' Witness. Chambers illuminates the apparatus of the Communist party in DC in the 30s--a world in which Oppenheimer was familiar. To some degree like the Cambridge Five...and the participants were similar. Over the years a lot of this has been elided, maybe not even known to people now. I read a few reviews of Oppenheimer complaining it is too long and spent too much time on his New Deal and communist connections. But what you write of here I think has its roots in the current generation not realizing the 1930s and having it erased by the popular idea of McCarthy as evil at a time before Stalin was understood.
Excellent piece. Thanks for this! I am looking forward to reading the rest of the series.