http://abovethelaw.com/2009/07/dr_li-ann_thio_v_random_nyu_la.php
quote-
"The full Thio letter (reprinted below) goes into great detail about the conservative nature of Singapore's culture, and the difference between acting as a politician in Singapore versus a law professor in New York.
But you have to wonder if Dr. Thio has a skin that is thick enough to take slings (and straws) of outrageous NYC fortune. Take it from me, you can't blast out an 18-point memo every time some student writes down all of the ways in which he believes you are a terrible human being.
Seems to me that if you believe in free speech in an intellectual environment, you also have to support the right of students to express their displeasure about your political beliefs.
Read the letters from Graves-Pryor and Dr. Thio below".
====
must say sensible pragmatic advice...if you cannot take the heat...get out of the kitchen...it would be good though if people who espouse (and believe themselves to be bastion of) academic and intellectual freedom and ready to voice "today's heresey may be tomorrow's orthodoxy and vice versa" challenge themselves to survive the caldron of NY-styled liberal democracy...hopefully that may moderate their views and NOT to treat moderate even-handed views as "dogma of false neutrality"...
see also
Statement from Dean Richard L. Revesz of the New York University School of Law
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/nyregion/23nyu-text.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
Dean Revesz found parts of Thio's letter offensive, quote-
"In the last few weeks, a number of members of our community wrote to Professor Thio indicating their objection to her appointment as a visiting professor. She considers some of these messages to be offensive. In turn, she replied to them in a manner that many member of our community—myself included—consider offensive and hurtful. These exchanges have been circulated on various blogs."
why? one maybe sympathetic to the emotional outburst but if you want to be a public figure, then you have to take the heat and be savvy and not hit out at all and sundry...the slur on "NY Law community" and "many faculty members" will only reinforce NY community's and western stereotype that Singapore society can only stoutly state/defend their views while denying others the same...
quote from Thio's letter-
"If the NYU law community is unable to welcome me because of my convictions, they should say so. I am sure many faculty members are doing some soul-searching, perhaps regretting their original invitation. I am not naive. But just reflect on how this makes me feel. I do not feel welcomed as a person; I feel unfairly treated and greatly disrespected. Would any academic (who is reasonably sane) want to go into a situation where hatred of a person, as oppose to "sharp disagreement" with their views, is the order of the day? Mr Graves-Pryor and those who share his views have succeeded in communicating their extreme disapproval of me / my views. They may rejoice in speaking freely, as the US Constitution protects, while seeking to intimidate others from exercising that same right through intimidation and abuse. I maintain my disagreement with their views and the viciousness of expression but this is perhaps to be expected, given the intractable nature of law and profound moral disagreement where an overlapping consensus is not possible or elusive.
If NYU Law as an institution is committed to a genuine diversity of viewpoints and respectful interlocution, it would be an institution I would be honoured to be given the privilege to teach at. If not, then be frank and say so."
No comments:
Post a Comment