Many thanks again to Audrey Trushcke for bringing up this important topic once again. It is quite something to watch men on this list present themselves as either sensitive to the issues of sexual bias and sexism or hasty defenders of patriarchal system. The list of allies and adversaries writes itself.

Certainly there are differences between North American and European educational systems. In North America we have had more -- but still limited success -- at breaking into leadership roles and dismantling the Old Boys Clubs that run academia behind the scenes.

To be completely clear, in no way was the advance toward my student one of ill-timing. In addition to the one-sided feelings that were expressed there was an offer of research, employment, and a multi-day conference trip that also included a side trip just for the student and professor. The initial rebuff by my undergraduate student was not an apology by her 50-something-year-old professor and an ongoing professional relationship but yet another effort to change the student's mind about her feelings. It was not only inappropriate but so completely cliché that it could easily be an example of "What Not to Do 101." Fortunately, my student felt comfortable enough with my and another (female) member of faculty to discuss the issue with us. Fortunately again for her, the undergraduate representative and the (female) head of the department in which the professor works (not mine) took the complaint seriously, advising her not to attend any future lectures and assuring my student that her work would be assessed by someone other than the professor who acted inappropriately. "He was trapped" is a ridiculous thing to say. By whom was he trapped? As far as I can see, there was no "trap," simply a man in power who felt his feelings were so important that he repeatedly felt the need to lure a student into a situation where he could get her away from the academic space so that he could re-express already rebuffed feelings. The only trap here is the system in which he thought this was an acceptable thing to do.

People fall in love. We are human. Many members of our field are married to one another or other academics. That is not the issue here.

Some are quick to side with those who have been outed as predatory without taking into consideration the feelings and experiences of those who have felt victimized. The lessons of the Me Too movement are apparently slow to permeate academics. The most fundamental lesson is to listen to and believe women. We do not gain by bringing up these issues and in fact are more likely to be punished, ridiculed, called difficult or troublemakers when we do speak up. If you want to think about how to respond, look at some of the (predominantly male) voices who have spoken up to say there clearly is something worthy of discussion here. Think about how you can respond in a way that doesn't diminish or dismiss a different perspective. Read this: https://www.polygon.com/2014/7/24/5933565/online-sexism-what-can-be-done-women-gaming-harassment

If you find it impossible to compliment a colleague, that's on you. Perhaps reconsidering your approach and relationship to the women whom you would like to compliment would help. I have cultivated personal friendships with many, many men in my life. There are men on this list that I consider personal friends who I look forward to seeing at the yearly conferences and other rare instances in which members of our field gather IRL. I hope that none of my friends, male or female, would hesitate to give me (or someone else with whom they have a relationship of mutual respect) a simple compliment. Start out by reading their work, discussing their ideas without explaining their ideas to them, build a relationship of respect and safety, ask how they are doing and listen to the answer. These simple things make future compliments genuine and appreciated.

For those who do not feel that this is an appropriate topic of discussion: You do not have to read all the emails sent to the list. You do not have to police a discussion that others clearly do feel is both appropriate and important. This discussion has brought out voices that are rarely heard on this list. That is a good thing! If you feel threatened by this conversation, think about why. What do you have to lose by learning something about the experiences of others?

That I have been contacted off-list by multiple women who have seen this discussion but not been able to join in for a variety of reasons demonstrates that this is an important, necessary, and dangerous discussion.

I am happy to continue this discussion on or off list. The gathering of demographic data about our membership seems like a very good idea. It will not only give us an idea about how dominantated by male perspectives this list is but also likely a very informed overview of the demographics of our field. Last year at AAR we briefly discussed the disparity in Yoga Studies, with women forging the way in modern yoga studies while men continue to command the historical and philological fields. One of the many reasons for this disparity appears to be the systems of academia itself, which pushes women onto certain paths while discouraging the exploration of others. Perhaps simply quantifying how many women here listen but do not speak will open some eyes to the many voices and perspectives that are not represented in this forum and allow us as a group to consider how we might be more welcoming to all members of the list, despite our varying perspectives.

Best wishes,

Patricia

On Wed, Apr 3, 2019 at 11:19 AM Camillo Formigatti via INDOLOGY <indology@list.indology.info> wrote:

Dear colleagues,

Sorry for intervening again in this discussion, but I’d like to comment on a point raised by Dr Sauthoff and taken up again by Prof. Keating. I refer to this episode:

Just last week a student came to me after her professor unburdened himself by professing his feelings to her -- two weeks before the end of class and placing her in a position where she was not sure if she would graduate because she rebuffed his (totally inappropriate) advances.

I wonder whether is a cultural difference between North Americans and Europeans regarding what is considered inappropriate behaviour bordering or being sexual harassment. I hope I can explain what I mean in a clear way. I personally believe that this professor’s advances where not totally inappropriate, only the timing was inappropriate. His feelings towards this student were there anyway, regardless of the fact that he expressed them or not. He should only have waited the end of the classes, that’s it. Or maybe not even, because even if he had waited, he might have unconsciously favoured this student, in the hope that she would have returned his advances afterwards. Either way, he was trapped, in the sense that it wouldn’t have mattered whether he’d had chosen to express his feelings or not, by the moment he started to have feelings towards his student, his judgment as a mentor was clouded anyway. Now, I don’t see why having feelings towards another adult human being should be considered totally inappropriate. Obviously, all these considerations are moot if the advance was done in a pushing way with overt sexual behaviour, but since Dr Sauthoff did not describe the advance in detail, I don’t have any means to know. I’m making a general point here and I hope it is clear.

Believe, I’m not kidding when I say that now I feel I can’t even make a compliment to a colleague about a new haircut or a nice dress—and I mean both a male or a female colleague—without the fear that he or she would feel harassed. This is how far political correctness has gone.

Best wishes,

Camillo

From: Malcolm Keating <c.malcolm.keating@gmail.com>
Sent: 03 April 2019 07:08
To: indology@list.indology.info
Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] Sexism and Bias on INDOLOGY governing committee

Dear all,

1. Regarding Dr. Truschke's concerns about gender parity, I would draw attention to an analogous effort being made in philosophy, which is a field that is also heavily male-dominated and has its share of problems with sexism, from egregious cases of harassment to pernicious and persistent cases of stereotyping. The idea of aiming toward gender parity in conferences has been present there for a decade now (see the "Gendered Conference Campaign" post at the Feminist Philosophers Blog: https://feministphilosophers.wordpress.com/gendered-conference-campaign/). This post includes links to some discussion about implicit bias, stereotype threat, etc. I raise the question of whether analogous efforts within Indology more broadly might not also have salutary effects.

2. I would like to echo Dr. Sauthoff's concerns about the experiences of women in academia. As another junior academic, I post to this list with trepidation, aware of its public nature and wide reach. At the same time, I have enough evidence, testimonial, perceptual, and inferential, to believe that there persist widespread problems in academia more generally, and Indian philosophy (my own subfield) more specifically. I also agree that the problems are more entrenched than what might be visible from the vantage point of most men, myself included. Perhaps these may be mostly structural, and not a matter of individual bad intentions. That possibility does not mean those of us within these structures aren't responsible for seeking solutions. And finally, if my female colleagues are speaking out at the risk of their reputations--at least in the sense of reputations for not stirring things up--I cannot simply watch. What the implications are for this list, I am in no position to say. However, I would like to add my voice to those who would like to see more discussion of how to create a more humane and equitable environment for scholars.

Best,

Malcolm

--
Malcolm Keating
Yale-NUS College | Assistant Professor | Humanities Division (Philosophy) | malcolm.keating@yale-nus.edu.sg

Office hours may be scheduled here: https://malcolmkeating.youcanbook.me
Academic website: http://www.malcolmkeating.com/

Subject:

Re: [INDOLOGY] Sexism and Bias on INDOLOGY governing committee

From:

Audrey Truschke <audrey.truschke@gmail.com>

Date:

2/4/19, 8:11 pm

CC:

"Indology List (indology@list.indology.info)" <indology@list.indology.info>

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Dr. Silk raises a valid point, which is that I am slightly vague in my account of what has happened. I would encourage everyone to be sensitive to the fact that other committee members have repeatedly told me, often angrily, to not share their emails and to not discuss any of this with the list at large. There are real risks for women who choose to come forward with these sorts of concerns.

That said, I do point to some specific things, such as an attempt to encourage me to resign when I pointed out bias (March 2019; in an e-mail), refusals to talk about possible bias (numerous e-mails; fall 2018), and persistent demands that I keep silent about what I experience as abuse and intimidation (repeated over the past year or so). To add another specific case, last week a committee member wrote to Dr. Paturi and chastised him for writing 'thank you' to the entire list regarding the post I sent around sharing Anand Venkatkrishnan's excellent blog post on female Sanskritists and sexism. Indology members say thank you to the list all the time without complaint, and so this was a targeted silencing of a discussion about discrimination against women in our profession (and it worked). I think this is a fair amount of precision and several discrete instances. I do not know whether the intent was sexist or biased in any specific case, but the effects were.

So far as how to move forward, I recommend a few concrete steps. All are aimed to redirecting the committee's energy toward making both the committee and the list a more equitable, welcoming place. (1) I want gender parity, or at least approaching gender parity, on the INDOLOGY governing committee by adding female members. I think everyone on this list should value and want gender parity. (2) I want the committee to take further steps to address bias issues, whether that is bias training, a system for adjudicating complaints, shaking up committee membership, or something else. Whatever we decide, I would like those steps announced to the list at large. (3) Personally, I think that the individual who suggested that I resign after pointing out bias should instead, himself, consider stepping down. But I will not press this particular point.

Another thing that I wish to achieve here is awareness and space for conversation. Indology as a discipline may be focused on classical India, but we exist in the modern world, and modern issues of bias are a legitimate topic for scholars to discuss on INDOLOGY (preferably without declarations by list members that a given discussion of bias and discrimination is inappropriate on INDOLOGY). I would like issues of bias and discrimination treated seriously on this list and on the governing committee going forward.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

All the Best,

Audrey Truschke

Assistant Professor

Department of History
Rutgers University-Newark

Audrey Truschke

Assistant Professor

Department of History
Rutgers University-Newark

Subject:

Re: [INDOLOGY] Sexism and Bias on INDOLOGY governing committee

From:

Audrey Truschke <audrey.truschke@gmail.com>

Date:

2/4/19, 8:11 pm

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