[Air-L] "Pathways to Meaning" with Kendall and Markham

[Sanaz Raji]

Hi Caroline:

I am glad that you've raised these point concerning the situation of
freedom of speech and shady dealings at Arhaus University. I'm often
reminded of something that Priyamvada Gopal wrote on Facebook a while back:

"Academics are interesting in that they don't mind collusion with
institutional powers, or writing long essays about Gramsci, ideology and
consent, but are deeply offended if the problem of their own collusion and
consent--and participation in institutional corruption and relations of
domination and subservience-- is raised. Why is this? Are they except from
the processes that they are happy to identify at work in the rest of
society?"

Of course, a good majority of leading universities are complicit in
financing or allowing for questionable research.  These projects put the
most vulnerable of society, people of color, working class folks, and those
in developing countries in dire risk, as they are used, often times without
their knowledge, as research subjects for questionable health/social
projects. How many academics have been handsomely rewarded by their
institutions for projects that have hindered the lives of and/or
contributed to the deaths the of the vulnerable?

Instead of just researching the inequalities that exist in society, we in
academia need to be aware and to fight the corruption inside our own
institutions. Academia cannot exist without the freedom to ask challenging
and difficult questions and to express these views without the threat of
dismissal or other such cowardly acts.

Best wishes:
Sanaz


On Wed, Aug 7, 2013 at 3:16 PM, MC Cambre <mcambre at ualberta.ca> wrote:

> Hi All,
> The course sounds amazing.
> Just a friendly note on Aarhus University that some may wish to be aware
> of. The academic freedom situation appears to be problematic.
> I am not advising to act one way or another, just an awareness thing
> regarding ethically significant issues and how we implicate ourselves.
> I was going to apply for a position at Aarhus but changed my mind after
> looking into this matter (available on wikipedia for what that is worth!)
> Cheminova controversy and academic freedom at AU
>
> Aarhus University is the owner of the chemical manufacturer Cheminova, who
> controversially has been selling the methyl parathion pesticide to Brazil
> farmers.[41]
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aarhus_University#cite_note-42>
>
> (you may or may not know that this is not simply a "controversial"
> pesticide, but in fact a deadly one, especially to bees)
>
> In 2009, senior researcher Mette Jensen emailed her colleagues at AU,
> asking whether they thought Cheminova should stop selling the controversial
> pesticides. For this, the university threatened her with
> dismissal.[42]<
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aarhus_University#cite_note-43>
>
> The university's Pro-Vice-Chancellor Søren E. Frandsen denies that the
> university had made any mistakes or threatened the freedom of speech and
> academic freedom of its
> staff.[43]<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aarhus_University#cite_note-44>
> HERE IS LINK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aarhus_University
>
> Kind regards,
> Carolina
>
> On Wed, Aug 7, 2013 at 9:54 AM, Annette Markham <amarkham at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > Hi All,
> >
> > Lori Kendall and I are teaching a PhD course at Aarhus University in a
> > couple of weeks.  If you know anyone who might be interested, we still
> have
> > about three seats remaining.  This is the second time we've taught this
> > course and it seems to be a good success.
> >
> > Title:  Pathways to Meaning: Analytical tools for qualitative researchers
> > of digital media
> > Dates:  Tuesday, August 27 (noon) until Friday, August 30, 2013
> > Location: Aarhus University, Denmark
> > Basic Description:
> > http://www.markham.internetinquiry.org/teaching/pathways/
> > Reading list:
> > http://www.markham.internetinquiry.org/2013/08/pathwaysreadinglist2013/
> >
> > Contact me you're interested and I'll be happy to give you more
> > information.  Feel free to pass this along to colleagues who might be
> > interested and able to attend,
> >
> > Best,
> >
> > annette
> >
> > *****************************************************
> > Annette N. Markham, Ph.D.
> > Associate Professor, Department of Aesthetics & Communication, Aarhus
> > University
> > Guest Professor, Department of Informatics, Umeå University, Sweden
> > Affiliate Professor, School of Communication, Loyola University, Chicago
> > amarkham at gmail.com
> > http://markham.internetinquiry.org/
> > Twitter: annettemarkham
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
>
>
> --
>
> --
> Carolina Cambre PhD
> http://ualberta.academia.edu/mariacarolinacambre/About
>
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-- 
Sanaz Raji
+44 (0) 780 7873 550
Web: http://leeds.academia.edu/SanazRaji