floofloofMar 8

Florida Has Deemed All Existing Intro to Sociology Textbooks Illegal and Produced Its Own

https://lemmy.ca/post/61481724

Sociology textbooks made illegal by a board that has no educators on it. Schools will become propaganda machines. - Lemmy.ca

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/64975432 [https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/64975432] > > > > > > > But this isn’t just about professors; it’s about all of us. This is the most flagrant attack on higher education in my lifetime. Why are politicians reducing public colleges and universities to vehicles of state propaganda? Why are self-proclaimed proponents of free speech turning around and using state repression to enforce speech codes on our campuses? Why can’t we speak openly about our social world in sociology classes? Why are unqualified appointees from the business world dictating to Ph.D.-holding academics how they should teach and which textbooks they must use? > > > > > > > > > What we really need are people beyond the university itself — the general public — speaking out about how ludicrous this all is. We are now living through an era of state censorship, politically motivated firings, and state-produced propaganda materials. If this isn’t authoritarianism in higher education, I don’t know what is. > > > > > > > > > > > > > Opinion piece by Zachary Levenson is associate professor of sociology at Florida International University.  > > > > EDITED TO ADD (in case some miss my comment) > > > > > > > > Imagine the following scenario: You’re teaching Introduction to Sociology at a community college in Florida, and today, you’re trying to explain the well-documented pay gap between men and women in the United States. You check the guidance you just received from your dean, who received instructions via email from the executive vice chancellor of the Florida College System. The instructions state explicitly that explaining “unequal outcomes between men and women” in terms of “institutional sexism” would violate state law. > > > > > > > > >

Show threadgrueMar 8
The only reasonable response to this is for every sociology professor to blatantly flout the law until either the state backs down or it becomes impossible for anybody to get a degree in Florida that includes required sociology classes because there’s nobody left to teach it.
Show threadAdamEatsAss
Unfortunately sociology does not seem to have A singular nationwide accreditation body (like ABET for STEM).
Mar 8 at 2:43pmWeb
Show threadgrueMar 8
I mean the accreditation for the university itself should be pulled, as the state exerting that level of control calls the credibility of the entire institution into question.