do no harm:


idit dobb-weinstein: "teaching is action and thinking at once. What I try to guard against most when I teach is not speaking as if my answer were conclusive, so as to avoid (to the extent possible) any kind of dogmatic appropriation. It is understandable why students might wish to imitate their teachers, but there are different modes of imitation. I try very hard to avoid the mimetic appropriation that is immediate, passive, and occludes thinking. One other reason is that if I made clear what my views were, and my views appeared as if they were final, it would preclude the possibility of first, students challenging me and second, learning from my students. The relation between the student and teacher is, to me, a dynamic relationship . . . Teaching and learning is a movement that occurs between. In other words, we are at once both agent and patient, both teacher and learner. If we are not very careful, we can do a great deal of harm. And that, too, I have learned from my teachers, Maimonides especially.

I believe my task is to provoke students to think and to engage them in genuine dialogue and questioning. To paraphrase a rabbinic saying, 'I have learned from my teachers, and I have learned from my peers, but I have learned most from my students.' And that is a continuous process of learning."

Friday 1 October 2010

hate speech suicide connection

got an email about suicides.
people who kill themselves after bullying at school.

in texas.
in california.
that is what i don't understand about professors who let bullying go on at LACC or who engage in trans-hate, sexist epithets, rape jokes.

they don't seem to get the connection between psychological abuse and suicide, or other problems like depression and eating disorders.

so, when i heard so much abuse from my teachers, i have to admit, it really depressed me.  i think they might actually be sadists.

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/anti-gay-bullying-tx-boy-kills-self-ca-teen-suicide-attempt

schools are crime scenes these days.
i think bartelt, eckford, passman, lewis, bradford, peters, lanzer should be fired.  for being sexist, or protecting harassment.
for collecting federal tax subsidized paychecks, in defiance of the civil rights act.

for not caring about the psychological well-being of women and minority students.
for being so lousy kids drop out.

duffy too, vargas too.  for being utterly spineless and protecting abuse and covering up for sexual harassment of a minor.
for a steady belligerent stream of epithets and slurs that humiliate the impoverished women of LACC.
for insulting overweight people.

for protecting facebook harassment too.
for protecting grade retaliation.

for a coercive verbal atmosphere both hostile, and unfair
and for eckford's
mandating a coercive verbal abuse meeting in which

the words
shitty
asshole
vagina
pword
tits
tits and ass were rubbed in my face yet again.
just me, him, and bartelt and a treasure trove of their favorite gutter trash vocab.
eight in the morning.

for retaliating against me by not allowing me to present my paper.
on islamophobia, to be exact.
i was not allowed to present a paper islamaphobia.
was this anti-islam?
or anti-mary?
or anti-woman, or just plain stupid?

to punish me, silence me.

and why did eckford lett bartelt lie about saying he had no sympathy for anorexia and bulimia in the classroom.
why did he say
that transvestites teach real women how to be real women.

why did he call factory farming cowschwitz?
doesn't he get how anti-semitic that sounds?

Wednesday 29 September 2010

soundcloud archives 1984 and catalytic letters

my mother and i listen to the soundcloud audio archive
"they're giving me the privilege of their brilliance"
http://bambuser.com/channel/maryeng1/broadcast/1052808

of course i should have had a lawyer present---

sad about how [1984] denied some of the things he said---and which i have record of---that willingness to mis-remember the truth . . .

loudly
in the presence of one's peers
for self validation

i don't like lyingness

sadly a lot of the subtext was doubletalk and tripletalk.

like when i want to delete names to protect my pell grant---and replace them with [orwellian black hole] or [1984]

when i called women "minutiae" i was giving parody to the bizarre way we are treated as such----

and then instead of grasping my polite sarcasm, he plays like see, its minutiae.

like yeah, to you.

i note to mom the chance that the @ might be the problem with the fried brain cells vs. my other theory of @

the main point being

how can people be this stup
COLD SOBER?

maybe its just the LA smog making everyone act so declasse and last century

teachers being a little foolish in portland caused me to give birth to a sister blog.
less than 48 hrs old, it does not index well. yet.
http://therealpsu.blogspot.com/

i hope it doesn't need to get out of hand.  there are lots of great teachers---so it won't be necessary to stick around for drivel

i met the bias response team, the affirmative action office, the dean's office and the chair of philosophy, tom seppalainen who called my legalese "pasted rant."  he was raising his voice and honestly admitted no knowledge of any civil rights law whatsoever, which in my book makes him a good candidate for former chair of philosophy.  it is better to pretend to know the laws that your teachers are breaking, at least.
he said it didn't matter.
he's sure off on the wrong foot with me.
perhaps i should send him link to catch him up to speed.
but then again, he was completely confused by my email.  so i don't want to overwhelm him, with the future of equality.
it was funny to see him take his best philosophy wits out for a spin, get totally ostentatious with all his triple syllable words,  but then to disavow any knowledge of the law or any harassment training.
and then to say it doesn't matter.
he raised his voice.
he defended the porn-talker and obesity-insulter.
should we wait another 100 years to be treated like humans?

what a bad flashback to hear the audio of wendel eckford calling my email "crazy" . . . in the meeting precipitated by my reaching out to the women of USC anthropology . . .
i was wondering if they were the roll over and play dead type, or whether they cared.  i think they are bought off . . .
eckford went thru his litany of epithets and slurs, defending them all
as though i were the recepticle of his epithet knowledge and a perfect victim
it's kind of sadomasochistic to me, to invite someone who feels uncomfortable around yr pottymouth disorder, to come listen to you regurgitate it all over her uncomfortable ears again.
eckford began raising his voice at me, which point i had to gain clearance for the awesome recording.
he chilled a bit, despite saying preposterous things such as: the english language is an ever evolving thing and b*tch is not offensive in the the lingua franca of english (paarphrase.  find it. its funny.)

he was recording it too, so he could  . . . hear the shift in his tone when my copy commenced ?????
well .....


so sorry to bother you !
From:
mary eng 
View Contact
To:jhoskins@usc.edu

janet, so kind of you to write.
the administration does not care and protects the abuse thus far.

when i try to talk to him he raises his voice, and other people too express that they do not feel comfortable talking to him.

i was very initially impressed with his knowledge but feel that his poor use of words detracts from the impact.  
i feel so sad and depressed and dismayed, as many other teachers here have similar negative things to say towards women at LACC.
it seems systemic.
i think he is diluting his quality for the community college and in a sense condescending, assuming we are too stupid to notice, or too brown to complain.
a lot of the other ratemyprofessors.com say similar things about his hostile tone, attacks on christians, etc.

i guess i wanted to know if this were a normal standard at USC?  and if not, why his sensibility degenerated.

i went to a nice school before where professors were extremely educated and articulate and careful and yet there was full range of possibility for engaged discussion of many things linguistic and otherwise.
it is only now that i realize how lucky i once was to be shown respect.  and similarly the lectures i follow online are immune from epithets and curse words.

i reach out to you, because i think a serious lack of professionalism will hurt him eventually.
i am so sorry for the email.  surely every one else will ignore me.  if you are in touch with him, maybe you can convey the depths of my anguish and sorrow to him.  initially, i felt that i could subtly influence him, for his own safety.

instead of politely disagreeing, or taking a word to the wise, he is making a mockery of his post with displays of anger and more cursing.

i want the women of the future to be free to study in a non-restrictive atmosphere.
many of the men in the class have confided how uncomfortable they feel as well.

it is an assault on all of dignity, and the sacrifice we undertake to go to school, despite the economic obstacles.

in my project on shariah, i seek to find ways that the accusational tone towards islam, masks certain repressed misogynies within our culture, and how the chronic objectification of the feminine based on dress, and the material realm, does disservice to the future of human rights.

its a very simple idea, and i sought help from him about how to be more respectful of my interviewees. and he ignored me, and then his classroom anger got so out of control, that i realized, i will learn nothing about respect from someone who can't control his temper and tongue in the classroom.

i have experienced severe anguish and depression in consequence to his screaming tits and ass at me when i asked him to be more respectful, after he kept saying, "you know, mardi gras, show your tits."
i tried to overlook the red flags, and dismissed them all, until this.

and now he is talking about "bitching" at us.

even if the word's merits are arguable i think he could err on the side of safety and respect.  to continually push the boundaries of the acceptable seems to serve no purpose than to make him seem less educated than he is.

i am so sorry to bother you.  if there is anything that could be done in the name of educating educators to be culturally sensitive to women, maybe we will not face such anxiety attending classes in the near future.

as to what is appropriate, i have exhausted the administrative remedies, and they have proven futile, and i write to you in anguish, looking for strength, and how to go on.

oh the broadcasts were not a big deal, but indeed, he restricted them after i complained about, "tits" and "tits and ass."

thank you so much for writing, i did not expect a response, and apologize for the negativity i express, and for what can seem one-sided hearsay to one not a witness.  i am fascinated by notions of equality and freedom from harassment and epithet and slur as expressed in CA and federal law, and fascinated with disregard for the law. and i  feel sorry that the academic level is so sub-standard.

blessings, and good luck to you.
i wish i had more positive role models.
i am so sorry to put you on the spot.

what do you think about "i have absolutely no sympathy for anorexia and bulimia."
this hurts.
i have had friends nearly die from this.  i think it is extremely insensitive.
bye
mary eng

earlier that day:Sun, May 23, 2010 8:15:53 AM





From:
mary eng 
View Contact
To:jhoskins@usc.edu; jacobshu@usc.edu; lutkehau@usc.edu; kondo@rcf.usc.edu; jrhawkin@usc.edu; epm@usc.edu; arenteln@usc.edu; walterlw@usc.edu



hi---i go to los angeles city college, where USC alum brian bartelt teaches anthropology.

at first i was impressed by his knowledge and thesis, but now i am not able to suppress the discomfort i feel in his classes.

he repeatedly curses, has stormy tempertantrums, and insults many people.
he also gives preferential treatment to the men in class. he gets extremely argumentative. 

i wonder what the atmosphere is like at USC.  i think i would enjoy anthropology if it were taught with less anger and curse words.

is there a rough atmosphere at USC or an enlightened one?

did any of you know him?  was it true, he was fired?  he claims the complaints were ideological, but now i see that the agressive behavior and sexism and general offensiveness might have been a factor. 

many of us in class are very unhappy.
one girl says she won't talk in class bc she doesn't want to be shot down.

a guy says he sees the girls look down when he says sexist things.
another girl signed my complaint memo and says he is so close-minded.

it is hard to learn in this atmosphere.
he even hit a student over the head with a project proposal to show the scorn for the student's ideas. i thought it was very immature and non-professional.

he talks about 
"tits and ass" screamed at me when i told him he was making me uncomfortable---see the email below
"show your tits"
"shitty" this and that
"margaret thatcher is a man"
"the asshole hypothesis"---a tiresome story
and "bitching"

he talks about being "white" and the "whiteman" and self-identifies thusly and brings along a lot of stereotyping
i don't believe in this way of talking, i think it perpetuates racism

he said also "i have absolutely no sympathy for anorexia and bulimia"
which is ironic, because my anorexic tendencies are recurring around this abusive atmosphere.  i did not drop the class bc i need my financial aid.

he also insults christians and overweight people.
he loves animal sacrifice and has a perverse joy in grossing us out with his disembowelment and animal sacrifice videos.
he is mean to the vegans and vegetarians in the class as well.

he said transexuals show women how to be "real women."  i think this is unfair to everyone, women and transexuals.

when i spoke against that statement citing judith butler and gender spectrum theory, he said 'you don't want to wig any one out" to dismiss me.

he won't accept dialogue or questioning of his authoritarian teaching style.
everything has to be a "you are wrong" dominance play.

this is his email which i found disgusting.  can you imagine a grown man teacher writing a female student who asked for more respect, a dictionary definition of the word "tit"??????

i have reported it---but LACC protects other harassment too.  i am getting out.  i just thought you might like to know.  and if anyone has any advice how to deal with the stress of degradingly banal teachers i could use some help.

i think his sexism is an antiquated way of seeing the world, and his vulgarity brash and potentially dangerous to the school, which is being sued for a teacher calling a student a "fascist bastard."

i think he needs to clean up his act.
the department chair seems irritated that this is a recurring problem.

i am washing my hands of this---but if you have any advice---or any ideas about how to protect future students/victims . . .
well wishes!
mary eng


4-16-10:


RE: the t&a video response
From:
"Bartelt, Brian A" <bartelba@lacitycollege.edu>
View Contact
To:mary eng 

Mary,

With all due respect, you are completely out of line.  In no way can my class be described as "vulgar and antiquated."  I take offense at this gross misrepresentation.  Before you levy such a charge against me, I strongly suggest you think hard about what you are saying.  You will see that you have no case.

I take pedagogy seriously.  I take accusations like this seriously.  In no way do i think this a laughing matter.

Finally, before you make a mountain out of a mole-hill, perhaps you need to revisit the entomology of the word "tit."  It derives from teat, meaning nipple, and can be pronounced as tit or teet.  Both men and women have them, as do the cows on the farm on which I grew up.

I also do not appreciate your calling me a fascist.  These are serious charges/accusations and I will not stand by and let a student throw such accusations my way - especially when they are completely unwarranted.  I always welcome questions and discussion.  In fact, I go out of my way to facilitate that.

I tried to accommodate you and your desire to video my lectures.  However, these base-less accusations have left me with no choice but to forbid all filming and taping of my lectures, as my academic freedom is now at stake.  I will make a formal announcement in class next week.

-Dr. Bartelt

a startling lack of sympathy, in my "inappropriate" opinion in my "inappropriate" blog and my "inappropriate" belles lettres:

From: Janet Hoskins <jhoskins@usc.edu>
To: mary eng
Sent: Sun, May 23, 2010 1:41:38 PM
Subject: Re: bartelt terrorizes LACC

Dear Mary,

I am sorry if you have not had a good experience in Brian's class. I was one of his teachers at USC, and found him a very intelligent and hard working anthropologist.  It seems from his email to you that there were certain conflicts involving your request to videotape his classes.  I cannot speak to that context, since you do not explain it in your letter.

I completely understand why he tried to explain to you that "tit" is not necessarily an offensive word, and its use should not in itself put him into the category of someone who "terrorizes" women.  But I think the best thing for you to do would be to meet with him and explain to him if there are things that make you uncomfortable.

Brian was a highly rated teaching assistant at USC and he was not fired.  He has also taught at several other institutions. I would need to know the context of the various things you say he said which you found offensive.

I really do not know why you felt the need to send this email to Brian's former professors.  These seem to be issues that you should take up with him face to face.

You have my sympathy, since you seem to have had a hard time in his class. But the email that you sent to all of us does not seem to me to be an appropriate response.

Best wishes,

Janet

Janet Hoskins
Professor of Anthropology
University of Southern California

wikipedia on paulo freire's pedagogy of the oppressed

In Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970), Freire differentiates between the two positions in an unjust society, the oppressor and the oppressed. He advocates that education allows the oppressed to regain their humanity and overcome their condition; however, he acknowledges that in order for this to take effect, the oppressed have to play a role in their own liberation. As he states:

No pedagogy which is truly liberating can remain distant from the oppressed by treating them as unfortunates and by presenting for their emulation models from among the oppressors. The oppressed must be their own example in the struggle for their redemption (Freire, 1970, p. 54).[4]

Likewise, the oppressors must also be willing to rethink their way of life and to examine their own role in the oppression if true liberation is to occur; “those who authentically commit themselves to the people must re-examine themselves constantly” (Freire, 1970, p. 60).



Freire believed education to be a political act that could not be divorced from pedagogy. Freire defined this as a main tenet of critical pedagogy. Teachers and students must be made aware of the “politics” that surround education. The way students are taught and what they are taught serves a political agenda. Teachers, themselves, have political notions, they bring into the classroom (Kincheloe, 2008).[5] Freire believed that ‘‘education makes sense because women and men learn that through learning they can make and remake themselves, because women and men are able to take responsibility for themselves as beings capable of knowing — of knowing that they know and knowing that they don’t’’ (Freire, 2004, p. 15) [6]

In terms of actual pedagogy, Freire is best-known for his attack on what he called the “banking” concept of education, in which the student was viewed as an empty account to be filled by the teacher. He notes that, “it transforms students into receiving objects. It attempts to control thinking and action, leads men and women to adjust to the world, and inhibits their creative power” (Freire, 1970, p. 77). The basic critique was not new — Rousseau’s conception of the child as an active learner was already a step away from tabula rasa (which is basically the same as the “banking concept”). In addition, thinkers like John Dewey were strongly critical of the transmission of mere facts as the goal of education. Dewey often described education as a mechanism for social change, explaining that “education is a regulation of the process of coming to share in the social consciousness; and that the adjustment of individual activity on the basis of this social consciousness is the only sure method of social reconstruction” (1897, p. 16).[7] Freire’s work, however, updated the concept and placed it in context with current theories and practices of education, laying the foundation for what is now called critical pedagogy.

Sunday 26 September 2010

american bar association discusses propaganda cyberwarfares

understanding a cyber attack!

how to be hated?  sue the goebbells of sexploitation dov charney?

too bad they rely on unintelligent cliches (american apparel)

how to transcend the internet?

in other ways . . .
read up
http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/lawyer_who_sued_company_ceo_is_target_of_claimed_cyber-attack_campaign/

tuesday i received this:

I think you should come speak to my class next quarter about your experience ar LACC.


so awesome fink wrote back---the class is a

"Winter Quarter is my Race Sex and Politics: Free Speech on Campus. It will be a big class. Meets Thusdays 5-8."



dear eckford, please apologize to keith fink! no cursing now!

talked to sheila dharod today about our presentation for keith fink pro-bono defender of LACC students right to blog
or
to be a woman on campus free of harass/discrim.
about being treated like  . . .

maybe we can invite the ASO.  and bartelt.  and lanzer and passman and lewis.  and let them listen to us about how
women are human beings toooooooo!!!!
we can explain
w-h-i-s-t-l-e-b-l-o-w-e-r
quid pro quo v. hostile atmosphere
and bring an AV team to videoblog the whole thing!!!!
oh, transparency!

skype party!

giving a rough study of fink's resume.
so much to look up!!!!!
http://server.finklawfirm.com/content/blogsection/1/4/
he must have kept his head in some books in addition to being a genius!

so wonderful, gloria allred had already turned me down, for her busy-ness and fame, and here is fink debating with lisa allred daughter of the famed defender of civil rights!!!
wow!!!

no cursing!!! this is real life, not a mafia movie!