[INDOLOGY] Indologist at Center of Sexual Harassment Mess at Berkeley
Paolo Magnone
paolo.magnone at unicatt.it
Thu Oct 6 08:07:00 UTC 2016
Dear Walter,
Of course, you are unquestionably right. But you will never win. There
are so many people, in this list as in the world at large, eager to
flock together under the banners of political correctness, gender
solidarity and what not. On the other hand, most people who share you
views will not speak up, lest they should imperil their popularity. So,
the more vocal majority shall have their way, no matter how utterly
meaningless it may be to discuss the merely *factual/* /behaviour of
Caitra, Maitra or Viṣṇuyaśas (as contrasted with discussing general
*principle* questions touching on Indology, like censorship in India
etc.) in an indological list.
Paolo Magnone
--
Paolo Magnone
Sanskrit Language and Literature
Catholic University of the Sacred Heart - Milan
History of Religions - Hinduism & Buddhism
Theological Faculty of Northern Italy - Milan
Jambudvipa - Indology and Sanskrit Studies (www.jambudvipa.net)
Academia.edu: http://unicatt.academia.edu/PaoloMagnone
On 06/10/2016 08:19, Walter Slaje wrote:
>
> Might I draw the gentle readership’s attention to the purpose of this
> list as published on their guidelines page
> (http://listinfo.indology.info/):
>
> INDOLOGY forum for Classical South Asian studies:
>
> INDOLOGY is an internet discussion group whose primary purpose is to
> provide a _forum_ for discussion _among professional scholars of
> classical Indian_ (South Asian) _civilization_. _The central focus of
> the list is the history and culture of ancient and classical India_ [...]
>
> It is clear from this statement – but also from the general practice
> followed so far by its members – that the list is to focus on research
> pertaining to „ancient and classical India“ – but not to pursuing the
> immoral conduct of selected American South Asianists. To this day it
> has served the purely scholarly purpose very well indeed.
>
> I am concerned that the shift now introduced towards naming and
> shaming is not only a violation of the guidelines above, but will
> undermine the reputation of the list and make scholars, who feel
> disgusted by public pillorying, turn away from it. After all, it is
> for the courts to assess, for the media to publicize, and for the
> tabloids to expose.
>
> I can see no scholarship in any of it which would befit this list.
>
> It is certainly legitimate to take an interest in the morals of South
> Asian scholars. Whoever does so and considers the issue important
> enough might perhaps want to establish something like The American
> South Asianists Immorality Discussion Forum. I really don’t think we
> should subscribe to such news feed here on this list.
>
> Regards,
>
> WS
>
>
>
> 2016-10-05 20:56 GMT+02:00 Antonia Ruppel <rhododaktylos at gmail.com
> <mailto:rhododaktylos at gmail.com>>:
>
> Dear Audrey,
>
> Many thanks for the links and the excellent overview. You're
> absolutely right that we need to be aware of what is going on.
> Whenever something like this comes to light about someone who is a
> colleague or perhaps even a friend, it is shocking and
> uncomfortable. Still, the more information we have, the better we
> are able to find the right side to be on here. (And yes, I think
> that unfortunately there are sides here, and many of us close
> enough to the situation need to choose one.)
>
> All best,
> Antonia
>
> On 29 September 2016 at 16:52, Audrey Truschke
> <audrey.truschke at gmail.com <mailto:audrey.truschke at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> Dear Colleagues,
>
> List members may be interested in an ongoing sexual harassment
> scandal at UC Berkeley involving an Indologist, Blake Wentworth.
>
> Wentworth, who works on classical Tamil literature, was found
> guilty of sexual harassment and misconduct last year by the
> university, and three of his victims came forward with details
> of the case (here
> <https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/apr/10/uc-berkeley-students-professor-sexual-harassment-complaint>
> and here
> <https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/27/uc-berkeley-sexual-harassment-scandal-blake-wentworth>)
> after being frustrated with delays in firing Wentworth.
>
> Now Wentworth is trying to silence the women he harassed with
> a defamation lawsuit (here
> <https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/sep/29/uc-berkeley-sexual-harassment-blake-wentworth-sues-victims>).
>
> As many of you know, sexual harassment is an ongoing issue in
> many disciplines, and our corner of the academy, it seems, is
> no exception.
>
> Audrey Truschke
> Assistant Professor
> Department of History
> Rutgers University-Newark
>
> _______________________________________________
> INDOLOGY mailing list
> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info <mailto:INDOLOGY at list.indology.info>
> indology-owner at list.indology.info
> <mailto:indology-owner at list.indology.info> (messages to the
> list's managing committee)
> http://listinfo.indology.info (where you can change your list
> options or unsubscribe)
>
>
>
>
> --
> Antonia Ruppel
> Richmond (UK)
>
> Out soon: The Cambridge Introduction to Sanskrit
> http://www.cambridge.org/ir/academic/subjects/religion/buddhism-and-eastern-religions/cambridge-introduction-sanskrit
> <http://www.cambridge.org/ir/academic/subjects/religion/buddhism-and-eastern-religions/cambridge-introduction-sanskrit>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> INDOLOGY mailing list
> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info <mailto:INDOLOGY at list.indology.info>
> indology-owner at list.indology.info
> <mailto:indology-owner at list.indology.info> (messages to the list's
> managing committee)
> http://listinfo.indology.info (where you can change your list
> options or unsubscribe)
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> INDOLOGY mailing list
> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
> indology-owner at list.indology.info (messages to the list's managing committee)
> http://listinfo.indology.info (where you can change your list options or unsubscribe)
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://list.indology.info/pipermail/indology/attachments/20161006/82c81db5/attachment.htm>
More information about the INDOLOGY
mailing list