[INDOLOGY] Indologist at Center of Sexual Harassment Mess at Berkeley

Thu Oct 6 13:33:49 UTC 2016

I have already made the suggestion that those who aspire to dedicate their
time to what they consider a substantial problem of their discipline
establish a discussion forum and deal with the matter exhaustively there.
Interested Indologists should be encouraged to subscribe.

The idea voiced that only male persons would have taken a specific stand in
this discussion shows little respect for, or even ignores, the gender
theory. This argument should vice versa also be applied on the ladies
involved. How can we really know what identities hide behind biological
features? So what can be deduced from the argument "they are all men"?

As INDOLOGY is supposed to serve scholars, they may expect that quantifying
statements made on this list be supported by evidence. There is no
scholarship without evidence. The three harrassed women do have my deepest
sympathies, but the (accused or convicted?) perpetrator was one man. One
South Asianist. At Berkeley. In the USA. With all due respect Berkeley does
indeed deserve, the local American academia must not be mistaken for the
hub of the world representing Indologists in any global sense, tempting as
it may seem for some.

Construing a significant problem for Indology on also other continents in
the world by presenting the evidence of one lone South Asianist, at
Berkeley, in the USA, takes a narrow view, is clearly at odds with
statistical data, and appears to be a bold step indeed. The globalizing and
unfounded insinuations resulting from it, putting the whole world of
Indology under general sexual harrassment suspicion, might be taken as
another reason why this discussion should in my opinion rather be
discontinued in a scholarly forum such as INDOLOGY.

One last remark. While the reporting media we have been informed about
speak of „professors in South Asian studies“, disputants on this list have
tacitly transformed them into „Indologists“ for claiming a fundamental
moral crisis in „our discipline“, i.e. Indology. There is however a
difference between South Asianists and Indologists, ironically brought to
the point by Sheldon Pollock: „[...] The word, the phrase ‚South Asia‘ was
invented in Washington D.C. at the State Department. [...] I am a professor
of South Asia Studies. I am a professor of a region that does not exist
...“. („*Why a Library of Classical Indian Literature?**“ *Jaipur
Literature Festival 2015*. *On *YouTube*, min. 42.43 ff).

It is not only because Indology in contrast continues to have a subject of
research that I feel uncomfortable with implicit identifications with South
Asianists of dubious ethical behaviour. I prefer the notion of an
Indologist for many reasons, one among them that I dislike – and be it in
name of a South Asianist only – becoming harnessed to the geopolitical
carriage of interests which Washington D.C. has been pursuing in an Asia
they have filleted themselves.

With this, my part in this discussion ends.

Cheers,

WS

2016-10-06 12:38 GMT+02:00 <audrey.truschke at gmail.com>:

> Sexual harassment deeply affects scholarship, and it is a problem in
> Indology.
>
> All three women harassed by Wentworth have publicly expressed that these
> events have negatively impacted their studies. One has discontinued her
> studies. So, these events are shaping the scholarship that we all read and
> share on this list by driving away future colleagues.
>
> Sexual harassment is a significant problem in our discipline, my friends.
> It's not just a general problem in the academy and the world -- it is our
> problem. I would encourage the men, and they are all men, who cannot handle
> this thread to halt the avoidance tactics and instead focus on what they
> can do to tackle this substantial problem.
>
> Audrey Truschke
> Assistant Professor
> Department of History
> Rutgers University-Newark
> http://www.ncas.rutgers.edu/audrey-truschke
>
> Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow
> Department of Religious Studies
> Stanford University
> www.stanford.edu/~truschke <http://www.stanford.edu/%7Etruschke>
>
> On Oct 6, 2016, at 5:09 AM, Paolo Eugenio Rosati <paoloe.rosati at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> And then, there are people reluctant to say their opinion, because it is
> very well-know what's the general flock's opinion about sexist behaviours
> as much as it's well-known that this kind of misbehaviours are rooted in
> every stratum of society.
>
> Sincerely,
> Paolo
>
>
> On 6 October 2016 at 10:07, Paolo Magnone <paolo.magnone at unicatt.it>
> wrote:
>
>> 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>:
>>
>> 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
>> > 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
>>
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>>
>>
>> --
>> Antonia Ruppel
>> Richmond (UK)
>>
>> Out soon: The Cambridge Introduction to Sanskrit
>> http://www.cambridge.org/ir/academic/subjects/religion/buddh
>> ism-and-eastern-religions/cambridge-introduction-sanskrit
>>
>>
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>
>
>
> --
> Paolo E. Rosati
> Oriental Archaeologist
> PhD candidate in "Civilizations of Asia and Africa"
> South Asia Section
> Dep. Italian Institute of Oriental Studies/ISO
> 'Sapienza' University of Rome
> *https://uniroma1.academia.edu/PaoloRosati/
> <https://uniroma1.academia.edu/PaoloRosati/>*
> paoloe.rosati at uniroma1.it
> paoloe.rosati at gmail.com
> Skype: paoloe.rosati
> Mobile: (+39) 338 73 83 472
>
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