UC Faculty Oppose Plans for ‘Viewpoint-Neutral’ Middle East History
Sara Weissman | 01 December 2023 | Inside Higher Ed
A group of at least 150 faculty members in the University of California system recently signed an open letter to the system’s president asking him to rescind plans to start educational programs that teach “viewpoint-neutral” Middle East history as part of a wider strategy to address antisemitism and Islamophobia on campuses in light of the Israel-Hamas war.
Dr. Michael V. Drake, president of the UC system, said at a Nov. 15 Board of Regents meeting that people within and outside the system have expressed “anger, fear, frustration, horror and sadness about how they see this conflict playing out on our campuses” as tensions among students, staff and faculty members on opposing sides of the conflict continue to escalate.
Dr. Drake announced a series of initiatives to address the problem, including a $2 million investment in educational programs on UC campuses “focused on better understanding antisemitism and Islamophobia, how to recognize and combat extremism, and a viewpoint-neutral history of the Middle East.”….