At the UCI Humanities Executive Council town hall meeting on December 1, 2015, a couple of alarming issues were brought up regarding the new chairs in South Asian studies that are being instituted. They are being funded by the Dharma Civilization Foundation (UCI Humanities has received/will receive 8 million dollars +), an organization that has ties to right wing Hindu nationalist groups in India. Their agenda is to "create an academic and intellectual infrastructure for the systematic study of 'Dharma', 'Sanatana Dharma', 'Hindu Studies' and 'Indic Civilizational Studies'" and to "free" it from the "rubric of South Asian studies." They have attempted to intimidate the "personal circles" of professors at UCI and to influence the selection of candidates. Moreover, none of the existing South-Asianists at UCI were consulted.
Please sign the petition and share it. Please state graduate/undergraduate, department, and university in the comments.
We, the undersigned, are concerned about the proposed donation by the Dharma Civilization Foundation (DCF) to the School of Humanities for the creation of endowed chairs, in light of the issues that arose at the HEC Town Hall Meeting on December 1, 2015.
WE OPPOSE:
- Threats, implicit or explicit, to faculty, staff and the academic community at large
- Compromising academic freedom and integrity in order to promote the agendas of a donor
- Donor influence in hiring practices, especially without consulting faculty and graduate students working in the field
- Lack of consultation with specialists in the field prior to signing the contract
- The increasing lack of transparency and due diligence in the School of Humanities and the Dean’s Office
- The silencing of Marxist, Feminist, Postcolonial, and Subaltern traditions in South Asian Studies
WE SUPPORT
- The development of South Asian Studies and the History of Religion at UCI
- Fostering a safe space and community for critical and rigorous academic research
Updates
December 10, 2015
just hit 250 signatures today and im honestly floored by how many people care about this. it feels good to see so many of us standing up for academic integrity at uci.
Reached 250 supporters
December 8, 2015
December 6, 2015
just saw we hit 100 signatures which is honestly wild. thanks for showing up and making it clear that we wont let our academic integrity get pushed around.
Reached 100 supporters
December 5, 2015
December 4, 2015
we are almost at 100 signatures and i need everyone to help push us over that line today. pull up the link and send it to your group chats so we can show them how many of us are actually paying attention.
124 Comments
When you start allowing outside forces to shape your academic priorities and project, you lose your academic immortal soul. The money isn't worth it--as Dr. Faustus. UCI Humanities, please reconsider. Jim Holstun Professor of English, SUNY Buffalo UCI Ph.D., 1983
This issue is of importance not only for a South Asia studies that preserves academic freedom to research and argue, but also for creating norms and boundaries around donor driven development.
As a grad of UCI's Ph.D. in Philosophy, I believe it is important to support academic freedom and encourage honest, open, academic discussion of issues. Scholarship should be neither bought nor quelled with threats.
As a member of the Graduate Program Committee in History, I'm signing this in solidarity with students, and out of concern for student safety. The forms of research recommended by the DCF and its representatives on campus are not compatible with academic freedom and public university research/pedagogy.
I cannot abide by the actions of the DCF, nor tolerate the influence of their organization in hiring practices at our University. This is an institution of academic research, and not a think tank to validate their ideology.
Thank you for this petition. (Associate Professor, Film and Media Studies, UCSB)
United States
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At the UCI Humanities Executive Council town hall meeting on December 1, 2015, a couple of alarming issues were brought up regarding the new chairs in South Asian studies that are being instituted. They are being funded by the Dharma Civilization Foundation (UCI Humanities has received/will receive 8 million dollars +), an organization that has ties to right wing Hindu nationalist groups in India. Their agenda is to "create an academic and intellectual infrastructure for the systematic study of 'Dharma', 'Sanatana Dharma', 'Hindu Studies' and 'Indic Civilizational Studies'" and to "free" it from the "rubric of South Asian studies." They have attempted to intimidate the "personal circles" of professors at UCI and to influence the selection of candidates. Moreover, none of the existing South-Asianists at UCI were consulted.
Please sign the petition and share it. Please state graduate/undergraduate, department, and university in the comments.
We, the undersigned, are concerned about the proposed donation by the Dharma Civilization Foundation (DCF) to the School of Humanities for the creation of endowed chairs, in light of the issues that arose at the HEC Town Hall Meeting on December 1, 2015.
WE OPPOSE:
- Threats, implicit or explicit, to faculty, staff and the academic community at large
- Compromising academic freedom and integrity in order to promote the agendas of a donor
- Donor influence in hiring practices, especially without consulting faculty and graduate students working in the field
- Lack of consultation with specialists in the field prior to signing the contract
- The increasing lack of transparency and due diligence in the School of Humanities and the Dean’s Office
- The silencing of Marxist, Feminist, Postcolonial, and Subaltern traditions in South Asian Studies
WE SUPPORT
- The development of South Asian Studies and the History of Religion at UCI
- Fostering a safe space and community for critical and rigorous academic research
Updates
December 10, 2015
just hit 250 signatures today and im honestly floored by how many people care about this. it feels good to see so many of us standing up for academic integrity at uci.
Reached 250 supporters
December 8, 2015
December 6, 2015
just saw we hit 100 signatures which is honestly wild. thanks for showing up and making it clear that we wont let our academic integrity get pushed around.
Reached 100 supporters
December 5, 2015
December 4, 2015
we are almost at 100 signatures and i need everyone to help push us over that line today. pull up the link and send it to your group chats so we can show them how many of us are actually paying attention.
124 Comments
Indian civilisation is too valuable to be hijacked by religious ideologies distorting and denying its complexity. Universities have to be aware of the dangers of financial "gifts" giving donors influence over hiring, teaching, and research; we need the spaces universities provide for critical thinking more than ever now.
When you start allowing outside forces to shape your academic priorities and project, you lose your academic immortal soul. The money isn't worth it--as Dr. Faustus. UCI Humanities, please reconsider. Jim Holstun Professor of English, SUNY Buffalo UCI Ph.D., 1983
This issue is of importance not only for a South Asia studies that preserves academic freedom to research and argue, but also for creating norms and boundaries around donor driven development.
As a grad of UCI's Ph.D. in Philosophy, I believe it is important to support academic freedom and encourage honest, open, academic discussion of issues. Scholarship should be neither bought nor quelled with threats.
As a member of the Graduate Program Committee in History, I'm signing this in solidarity with students, and out of concern for student safety. The forms of research recommended by the DCF and its representatives on campus are not compatible with academic freedom and public university research/pedagogy.
I cannot abide by the actions of the DCF, nor tolerate the influence of their organization in hiring practices at our University. This is an institution of academic research, and not a think tank to validate their ideology.
Thank you for this petition. (Associate Professor, Film and Media Studies, UCSB)
United States
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Indian civilisation is too valuable to be hijacked by religious ideologies distorting and denying its complexity. Universities have to be aware of the dangers of financial "gifts" giving donors influence over hiring, teaching, and research; we need the spaces universities provide for critical thinking more than ever now.