What are the chances that the person who gets this job won’t be a complete and utter leftist* who will engage in classroom proselytizing? It may be non-zero but one wonders…
The Department of Political Science at Ohio University invites applications for a tenure track appointment in Human Security/International Relations. Research agendas could encompass, but are not limited to, global poverty and development, gender, health security, migration and refugees, post conflict reconstruction, or environmental sustainability. The successful candidate will teach introductory and graduate courses in International Relations, as well as courses in his or her research area. Preference will be given to candidates who can enhance our curriculum on the politics of the Global South, especially Asia, Latin America, or the Middle East.
* I have no problem with a university hiring a complete and utter leftist. I just disdain proselytizing in the classroom and the double-standard about what counts as acceptable dependent variables for academic study (and I doubt that this department would be happy with scholars who approached these admittedly important issues from just any perspective). Could one imagine most universities putting up a similar ad like this (not that it should) one below:
The Department of Political Science at Ohio University invites applications for a tenure track appointment in American Politics. Research agendas could encompass, but are not limited to, individual liberty, originalist and textualist jurisprudence, and the concept of government failure. The successful candidate will teach introductory and graduate courses in American politics, as well as courses in his or her research area. Preference will be given to candidates who can enhance our curriculum on the politics of state intervention in the market.
I have arrived to break this down to understand the analysis which has taken place here:
Global poverty and development. Definitely only something a Uber Leftist would study. Poverty does not exist, only moral weakness.
Gender. Only MonsterHuge Leftists think about gender.
Health security. Conservatives do not concern themselves with disease! If someone is sick, that person chose to be.
Migration? Definitely not a conservative’s issue, unless they’re coming here and stealing my job goddammit
Refugees? Nonexistent, only a fabrication of the far left.
Post Conflict Reconstruction? PLEASE, only a hippy believes in reconstruction!
Environmental sustainability? as any good conservative knows, the word sustainability is a dog whistle for hippy extremist Occupiers who study women and gender studies and comparative literature DUH
Studying the politics of Asia, Latin America, the Middle East? We need only to look inwards, never outwards, conservatism discourages the studies of other places.
Let me project who this job will be filled by:
Lesbian, Occupy Activist, Peace-Loving Former Hippy who enjoys reading the New York Times and gardening and loves proselytizing to the weak-and-putty-like minds of college kids. She dreams of a destroying capitalism and american liberty and expanding the government to leviathan levels of intrusion.
Hard to respond negatively to a post by Prop Joe – one of the great small roles in the history of TV. Anyone who has spent time in academia knows that when these things are put together in a list, the department is almost always looking for a certain type of scholar. Another tip-off is the term Global South. And read my post carefully — I don’t say that these things shouldn’t be studied. They are important issues. But I doubt that someone who wrote on the problems of women serving in combat roles or about the importance of property rights to economic development or free-market environmentalism would be a top candidate for the job.
I agree with Grover Cleveland that these are topics worthy of study but that the department is likely biased as to what perspectives are admissible. In addition, I have to say that, to me, most of those subject areas do not even register as “political science”. They deserve study but I doubt that “political science” is the discipline best suited to doing so.