The Dartmouth Observer |
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Commentary on politics, history, culture, and literature by two Dartmouth graduates and their buddies
WHO WE ARE Chien Wen Kung graduated from Dartmouth College in 2004 and majored in History and English. He is currently a civil servant in Singapore. Someday, he hopes to pursue a PhD in History. John Stevenson graduated from Dartmouth College in 2005 with a BA in Government and War and Peace Studies. He is currently a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science at the University of Chicago. He hopes to pursue a career in teaching and research. Kwame A. Holmes did not graduate from Dartmouth. However, after graduating from Florida A+M University in 2003, he began a doctorate in history at the University of Illinois--Urbana Champaign. Having moved to Chicago to write a dissertation on Black-Gay-Urban life in Washington D.C., he attached himself to the leg of John Stevenson and is thrilled to sporadically blog on the Dartmouth Observer. Feel free to email him comments, criticisms, spelling/grammar suggestions. BLOGS/WEBSITES WE READ The American Scene Arts & Letters Daily Agenda Gap Stephen Bainbridge Jack Balkin Becker and Posner Belgravia Dispatch Black Prof The Corner Demosthenes Daniel Drezner Five Rupees Free Dartmouth Galley Slaves Instapundit Mickey Kaus The Little Green Blog Left2Right Joe Malchow Josh Marshall OxBlog Bradford Plumer Political Theory Daily Info Andrew Samwick Right Reason Andrew Seal Andrew Sullivan Supreme Court Blog Tapped Tech Central Station UChicago Law Faculty Blog Volokh Conspiracy Washington Monthly Winds of Change Matthew Yglesias ARCHIVES BOOKS WE'RE READING CW's Books John's Books STUFF Site Feed    |
Monday, October 03, 2005
Professorial discontent at Dartmouth The loss of Michael Gazzaniga, Jon Appleton, and Jim Kuypers -- three of Dartmouth's most distinguished faculty members -- bodes unwell for the College. They will be missed as teachers and scholars; Gazzaniga, in particular, strikes me as being almost irreplaceable (something even his soon-to-be erstwhile colleagues admit). But of greater concern are the circumstances surrounding their departure, which are disturbingly similar. Each of the departing trio has been at odds, either implicitly or explicitly, with the Dean of the Faculty Carol Folt. Gazzaniga was Folt's predecessor and resigned as Dean because of "differences among faculty members" over his management style; most likely, the same faculty who voted him out voted Folt in. Appleton (a supporter of Gazzaniga) and Kuypers have both cited Folt as a reason for their departure. All three have chosen to leave despite their fondness for Dartmouth's students. As Joe writes, "These professors were not hired away. They jumped ship." This had better not become a trend. There are more discontented Dartmouth faculty at the moment than just these three. |