David Horowitz vs. Women's Studies
When David Horowitz named the "101 most dangerous academics in America," in The Professors, a book in 2006, Bettina Aptheker was among those featured. A professor of feminist studies at the University of California at Santa Cruz, Aptheker was critiqued this way in the book:
"Aptheker describes her teaching philosophy as a 'revolutionary praxis.' The crux of this approach, she has said, is to subvert the traditional mission of the university by breaking down the distinction between subjective and objective truth, what Aptheker dubs 'breaking down dualisms.' This approach is especially relevant to women's studies, Aptheker notes, because it allows her to inject a 'women-centered perspective' into the curriculum. ..."
Next week, Horowitz's new book, One-Party Classroom, will be released, with a list of the 150 "worst courses" in American higher education. Aptheker teaches two of the courses and here's Horowitz's critique of Aptheker's course on "Feminist Methods of Teaching":
"Aptheker has described her teaching philosophy as a 'revolutionary praxis,' a Marxist term of art for political organizing. The crux of her approach, she says, is to break down the distinction between subjective and objective truth, what she refers to as 'breaking down dualisms.' This old-fashioned Marxism allows her to inject a 'women-centered perspective' into the curriculum. ..."
Sound familiar? In many ways, the new book is quite similar to Horowitz's previous work. Many of his critics see the book as a rehash of his book on dangerous professors (even if plenty of those cited are different). But the fact that Aptheker is in both reflects an increased focus by Horowitz on women's studies. As with the book on the most dangerous professors, the courses are largely selected by statements on syllabuses, public statements about teaching by professors, and past articles. Horowitz acknowledged in an interview Tuesday that he had not actually seen a single class in any of the 150 courses he has declared to be the worst in America.
One thing that is notably different from some of Horowitz's previous writings on academe is that women's studies appears to have eclipsed Middle Eastern studies as the greatest threat to American higher education (in Horowitz's view). Middle Eastern studies has long been a focus of Horowitz (and remains one), but women's studies is the primary focus of the new book....
Read entire article at Inside Higher Ed
"Aptheker describes her teaching philosophy as a 'revolutionary praxis.' The crux of this approach, she has said, is to subvert the traditional mission of the university by breaking down the distinction between subjective and objective truth, what Aptheker dubs 'breaking down dualisms.' This approach is especially relevant to women's studies, Aptheker notes, because it allows her to inject a 'women-centered perspective' into the curriculum. ..."
Next week, Horowitz's new book, One-Party Classroom, will be released, with a list of the 150 "worst courses" in American higher education. Aptheker teaches two of the courses and here's Horowitz's critique of Aptheker's course on "Feminist Methods of Teaching":
"Aptheker has described her teaching philosophy as a 'revolutionary praxis,' a Marxist term of art for political organizing. The crux of her approach, she says, is to break down the distinction between subjective and objective truth, what she refers to as 'breaking down dualisms.' This old-fashioned Marxism allows her to inject a 'women-centered perspective' into the curriculum. ..."
Sound familiar? In many ways, the new book is quite similar to Horowitz's previous work. Many of his critics see the book as a rehash of his book on dangerous professors (even if plenty of those cited are different). But the fact that Aptheker is in both reflects an increased focus by Horowitz on women's studies. As with the book on the most dangerous professors, the courses are largely selected by statements on syllabuses, public statements about teaching by professors, and past articles. Horowitz acknowledged in an interview Tuesday that he had not actually seen a single class in any of the 150 courses he has declared to be the worst in America.
One thing that is notably different from some of Horowitz's previous writings on academe is that women's studies appears to have eclipsed Middle Eastern studies as the greatest threat to American higher education (in Horowitz's view). Middle Eastern studies has long been a focus of Horowitz (and remains one), but women's studies is the primary focus of the new book....