On academic freedom: “Their exclusive medium and stylized rhetoric render them inaccessible to a large portion of the public whom they might endeavor to engage and educate.”
We don’t get cable, so we don’t buy TV’s, so we don’t watch their soaps.
A prominent campus figure explains what exactly Conservatism is.
Kenneth is real.
Image via Chrisday71/Flickr
Tags: academic freedom, ctv, eyepoke, learned foote, people named jack
29 October 2009 @ 12:20 PM · 11 comments
on Personals: Camille Murphy and Erin Gillingham
I’ve been missing a green notebook for my Evolutionary Basis of Human Behavior (EEEBW4010) class since Feb. 7th. It should have the name Kimberly Young written inside. It was last seen in the Schapiro computer lab. If found, please contact kty2102@columbia.edu
The purse has large red circles on it, and contained an ID card, keys, wallet, pink headphones, Metrocard, and other important things. Last seen in Schermerhorn 614. If found, please contact rdc2125@barnard.edu
Hi, I’m missing a black LL Bean Backpack, last seen in the lounge of Broadway 12 during the Super Bowl. It’s black, with the initials “BCB,” embossed in grey. It contains an Apple laptop and several important books. If found, contact bcb2131@columbia.edu.
I lost a Lion Laundry bag full of gym items. Contact sac2171.
Black puffy coat with two layers and Burberry plaid pattern on lining. Last seen at Lerner Party Space during Black Students Organization (BSO) party on January 20. Please contact jyc2130@columbia.edu if found. Reward offered.
Yellowish ivory scarf with a lot of print on it. Most likely to be found at 504 Diana or LRC SIPA. If found then you shall be rewarded with my eternal gratitude. Contact: an2503@barnard.edu
Last seen in the Hartley computer lab at around 9 am, on 1/30/12. No case; no password; background is a generic picture of a rower on a lake. About 2 years old and showing its wear. Contact: etp2109.
Last seen at Il Cibreo on January 19 around 1am. It’s beige cashmere with unique colors which complete the original burberry pattern. If you took it by accident please contact aln2133@columbia.edu. If you took it because you like it, not cool.
I lost my umbrella today in Schermerhorn 612. I had class until 12:15, went back tonight around 6 pm, and it was gone. It is Paris themed, so it has the eiffel tower, arc du trimpuh etc. Email lgg2110@barnard.edu.Thanks!
more than anything, he explained how conservatism isn’t one thing, and liberalism isn’t either. Great article though.
While I respect Learned and conservatives who voice their views on campus, some of his claims ranged from unsusbtantiated to ludicrous. In particular, his claim that exporting democracy is ‘a liberal belief held by many recent presidents’.
American Conservatism that is displayed on the news is what irks most people about conservative movements. The crazy Christian fundamentalists have taken over the label. While I self-identify as a social liberal, and probably fiscally center/center-left, I wouldn’t have a problem with the conservative movement. I just don’t appreciate being told that I am going to hell if I support a woman’s right to choose or two men who want to get married. If big government is such a liberal idea, stop trying to use legislation to regulate how some people choose to live their lives…
So do you object to the views themselves, or to the expression of those views in religious terms? In other words, do you object to opposition to gay marriage or abortion, for instance, or to opposition to gay marriage or abortion in a religious pretext? I take it that you are aware that one can be opposed to both without scriptural justification, for reasons that may either be different or even perhaps the same as those that motivated the scriptural authors. In other words, one can be opposed to the same things that the authors of the scriptures were opposed to for different, or even for the same reasons, as either revealed or hidden or implied, expressly reasoned or inexpressibly conveyed — and not derive one’s opposition from the scriptural text. No?
Great article. He put a lot of things I have noticed about campus political culture on the page in a much clearer and more eloquent way than I ever could. Still, as someone who has shifted to the right so to speak since coming to Columbia, I still probably fall somewhere to the left of the dividing line, however arbitrary it may be. I think he could give more credit to the liberals on campus though, because we aren’t all one big tent (which isacknowledged). Just because liberals are the overwhelming majority on this campus doesn’t mean we all form some kind of united evil empire. I find myself very put off by some of the things CUDems has done, not to mention other “left” groups, Lucha and SDS come to mind. Obama built an enormous tent for liberals during the past two years, and many people are rapidly fleeing that tent after realizing they don’t really know how they got there. Bravo for the article, I’m sure the liberal phenomenon on campus deserves a similar dissection.
And btw, the photos in the print edition are kind of overdone. And by kind of I mean ridiculous. Just because you’re in an unpopular position doesn’t mean you get to have all the gravitas.
I don’t vote Republican or Democrat. Choosing is a sin, so I always just write in the Lord’s name!
i love learned. i’m not so into his political views, but i LOVE learned. love him!!! :-)
surprisigly great photography as well in that article by Learned.
Joey is a fantastic photographer.
Really fantastic article. It is sad though that hostile environments make your political identity instead of your own personal philosophy. For instance, I would say that I am liberal, but there are definitely people, angry people, that would–and in fact do–consider me conservative on campus. On the other hand, I come from a more conservative background, and back home, they are convinced that Columbia has turned me communist. Thus, I have settled on being moderate with the intention of pissing off the fewest people.
I understand Learned’s nuanced characterization of the term, but it just seems to me that many, if not most, of the people interviewed at libertarian. Hollander says he’s a social liberal, Greenwald is something of a libertarian, St. Marie is a neo-liberal (suggestion his economic/foreign policy views are what move him to the right?), etc.
So, I loved the article, and I like Learned, but we should really parse these phrases like “conservative.”
That being said, I hope at the next fireside chat someone will ask Bollinger about adding conservative/libertarian faculty. It really is a shame, and I think we all (particularly liberals) would gain from having those voices. Sure, there’s the dean of the Business School and a handful of conservative economics professors (a couple of whom have won the Nobel), but those people aren’t really accessible to most of us.