The Leo Frank Case: A Century Later
One hundred years ago this April began a series of events culminating in one of the most notorious anti-Semitic incidents in American history. It would end two years later when a Jew was lynched in Atlanta. In a class I taught in the history department two years ago, I asked students if they were familiar with Leo Frank. Not a single hand went up. An appalling sign of ignorance of our own city’s past? Or was the Leo Frank incident such an aberration from the welcome that Jews have found in the American mainstream that it hardly registers today? Perhaps…
Reevaluating Washington’s Politics
The historian Laura Kalman is said to have read law journal articles when insomnia struck; the final result of those sleepless nights was her penetrating analysis in The Strange Career of Legal Liberalism. I’m no Laura Kalman. When I have trouble falling asleep — which happens fairly frequently when one contemplates today’s academic job market — I often pass the time by reading Australian news sites. (Given the significant time difference, as I lay in bed, it’s the middle of the day there, and there’s plenty to chew on.) While we have recently completed an election, Australians are gearing up…
End of Affirmative Action as We Know It
On Wednesday, Oct. 10, the Supreme Court once again took up the controversial issue of affirmative action, as it heard oral arguments in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin regarding the university’s admissions procedures. Much has been written about the case. Writing in The Daily Beast, UCLA Law Professor Adam Winkler argues that former president Bush’s conservative appointees have changed the make-up of the Court and that a decision to strike down affirmative action plans will hurt minority applicants and endanger campus diversity. In The Huffington Post, New York Law School Dean Deborah N. Archer contends, “Race-conscious admissions programs,…
Liberal Arts: Still Valuable
Emory’s recent decision to shut down or suspend various academic departments and programs has rightly generated campus-wide and national attention. On the popular education blog Inside Higher Ed, Liz Reisberg called the moves “stunning,” given that journalism, economics, and Spanish language are central to understanding — and succeeding in — today’s complex world. The news of Emory College Dean Robin Forman’s announcement was also been picked up by articles in The Chronicle of Higher Education, as well as a few other colleges’ student newspapers. Some coverage has emphasized the impact the downsizing will have on faculty, especially non-tenured positions; the…
