Doumani, Beshara, ed. Academic Freedom after September 11.

• Author: Simmons, Haven
• Position: Book review

Doumani, Beshara, ed. Academic Freedom after September 11. New York: Zone Books, 2006. 250 pages. Paper, $21.95.

This book reveals a veritable web of influence and concern germane to the academic world that is especially acute post-9/11. After reading the essays of the various authors in this work, it is not unreasonable to compare the storm clouds hovering over America and higher education today to the McCarthy era.

Beshara Doumani alludes to the almost irrational war on terror by an administration that apparently views the Middle East in black and white--Muslims are evil beyond redemption while the United States and its allies, especially Israel, are inherently good. He makes fleeting reference to the media who also tend to frame the conflict in extremes. Doumani accuses most members of the media of abdicating their cherished watchdog role to advance the administration's goals in the name of patriotism. To question the war on terror or the bloodletting in Iraq is unpatriotic of the media whom Doumani probably should have discussed in greater depth. The alleged marriage of militant nationalists such as Vice President Richard B. "Dick" Cheney to what Joe Beinen labels the "American Likud" appears to be on display whenever Fox News covers the horrific developments in the Middle East.

Of course, academic freedom is the focus of the book. Doumani points out that college campuses have been significantly quieter during the current Middle East conflict than during the Vietnam era. Why have anti-war protests been left to more easily marginalized individuals like Cindy Sheehan rather than the potential resentment college campuses provide? Several authors argue that institutions of higher learning have been handcuffed by corporate donors and government funding sometimes contingent upon the leanings and research of faculty. Doumani mentions the policing of academe by organizations such as the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. Philippa Strom recounts the serious stipulations placed on funding by the Rockefeller and MacArthur Foundations, among others, when the line of national security is crossed. Kathleen Frydl explains that multiversity, the trend toward a more professionally oriented college education geared toward a greater cross-section of the nation, relied strongly upon government and corporate support after World War II.

Other notable essays here include those authored by Judith Butler and Robert Post which offer a timely discussion of...