Saturday 1 January 2011

Honoring One of the Perpetrators at Duke

Peter Wood Duke (Hate 88) Faculty member

By KC Johnson

Each year, the American Historical Association---the nation's leading professional organization of historians---confers the Eugene Asher Distinguished Teaching Award, which "recognizes inspiring teachers whose techniques and mastery of subject matter made a lasting impression and substantial difference to students of history." At the 2011 annual conference (held January 4-7 week in Boston), the AHA will add recently-retired Duke professor Peter Wood to the Asher Award's list of "inspiring" teachers of history.

For those who followed the lacrosse case, Wood needs no introduction; he was among the most outspoken anti-lacrosse members of the Duke faculty. Wood's commentary, however, differed from that of other anti-lacrosse extremists, most of whose public remarks focused on assumptions of guilt about the criminal case (the Group of 88's statement) or race-baiting demagoguery. Wood, on the other hand, tended to use the lacrosse case to speak out about the character of students in his classes. He did so through a string of statements that contained stereotyped, malicious, or evidence-free things about his own students. That such a figure could subsequently win an award specifically designed for "inspiring" students in his classes is nothing short of astonishing.

Read the whole article at Minding the Campus

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KC Johnson's blog on the Duke Lacrosse hoax is "Durham in Wonderland"

4 comments:

Pat H. said...

William Anderson, one of the most commonly encountered authors on Lew Rockwell, was a key player in seeing justice eventually done in the Duke non-Rape Case.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/anderson/anderson230.html

If you don't know him, here's his archive.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/anderson/anderson-arch.html

Sarah Maid of Albion said...

Thanks for those links Pat.

I do know Bill Anderson, and corresponded with him a few times a couple of years ago.

I have a lot of admiration for him.

Sarah

Dr.D said...

This man is typical of the modern college faculty member who views students, any students, as a burden and an imposition upon his exalted position. This has become, unfortunately, fairly common as academics think of themselves as founts of wisdom and sources of fundamental knowledge, too much for mere mortals to cope with and only to sit above it all and pontificate. I have known all too many of them myself. Their awards are simply self-congratulations and mean nothing at all.

gabagool said...

Obviously a college "debate team" letterman, playing a real sport, not one overrun with 'ruffians".

Really. SOmetimes a punch in the face is the only thing that will solve things. It may take more than one, but eventually this guys will change his tune. Think about that. 100% OF THE TIME, HE WILL CHANGE HIS TUNE OR NO LONGER BE ABLE TO SING THE TUNE........AND ITS ALL THE SAME TO ME.