Tikun Olam-תקון עולם: Make the World a Better Place

An extraordinary conference will take place at the University of Chicago on October 12th called In Defense of Academic Freedom. Several distinguished academics and public intellectuals will examine the threats to academic freedom posed by recent controversial tenure decisions and other campus developments which have stifled the free exchange of ideas. The conference will explore these issues in the context of the Israeli-Arab conflict since some of the most contentious issues revolve around it. The impetus for this certainly began with Norman Finkelstein’s ouster from DePaul University. But it also includes the furor generated by Walt-Mearsheimer’s The Israel Lobby and cancellation of their speaking engagements under real or perceived pressure from Jewish groups and leaders; the recent cancellation of Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s scheduled talk at St. Thomas University in Minneapolis due to his alleged anti-Israel stance; and the campaign to deny Nadia Abu El-Haj tenure at Barnard College.

Among the speakers will be: Tariq Ali, Norman Finkelstein, John Mearsheimer, Noam Chomsky, Tony Judt and Neve Gordon. It is sponsored by the DePaul Committee on Academic Freedom and Verso Books. The program begins at 2PM in the Rockefeller Memorial Chapel.