[antimedia] antimedia: How hard is it for a conservative historian....

[Email subscription to blog articles]

Posted by antimedia:
How hard is it for a conservative historian....
http://www.antimedia.us/posts/1177994108.shtml


   ....to get a job in liberal-dominated academe? [1]Nearly impossible.
   Even when you're an up and coming superstar you dare not challenge
   orthodoxy.

     Mr. Moyar is used to opposition. A contrarian among most Vietnam
     scholars, he does not believe it was a mistake for America to have
     gone into Vietnam. In carefully argued prose using previously
     unexamined sources, he marshals support for the "domino theory."
     His scholarship and books have received great reviews and marked
     him as a rising star.
     In saying Vietnam was winnable, Mr. Moyar is "profaning one of the
     holy of holies," Mr. Balch said. Senator Webb, a Democratic
     opponent of the Iraq war, and scholar William Stueck, a liberal,
     have endorsed Mr. Moyar's book, "Triumph Forsaken" ( Cambridge),
     which was the subject of a conference at Williams College. A
     conference is a signal honor for a young scholar.

   But there's no bias in the hiring of faculty, that bastion of
   equality. None at all. Just ask them.

     Mr. Chilcoat declined to talk about confidential deliberations, but
     said in no way was ideology or politics a consideration in the
     voting. "I would never allow any discrimination," he told the Sun.
     He said Mr. Moyar was not "de-selected" but was a competent
     historian who got a fair opportunity to compete. "When you added
     everything up, he was not the best qualified," he said.
     Mr. Moyar said Mr. Chilcoat didn't reply to him during his final
     five months there. Mr. Chilcoat said, "I always made sure he knew
     what my position was."
     Mr. Moyar told the Sun that one faculty member informed him she did
     not vote for him because of "ideological differences." Documents
     obtained by Mr. Moyar through the Texas Public Information Act and
     shared with the Sun show an anonymous faculty candidate assessment
     describing Mr. Moyar as a revisionist historian "bent on proving
     the merits of the Vietnam War (even if he is doing a great job
     doing it). His being here would hurt the reputation of the school."
     Another faculty member expressed concern about "his agenda-oriented
     research."

   See, when you're a conservative, you have an agenda. When you're a
   liberal, you've faced reality.
   Is it any wonder that education in America has eroded so terribly?

References

   1. http://www.nysun.com/article/53422