Peter N. Kirstein
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Peter N. Kirstein is a professor of history at Saint Xavier University in Chicago, Illinois. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. from Saint Louis University, and his A.B. from Boston University, where he studied under Howard Zinn. Kirstein also attended Washington University in St. Louis. Kirstein received his university's Excellence in Teaching Award. He is known for his antiwar views and support of academic freedom.[citation needed] He identifies himself as a pacifist.[citation needed] He is currently Vice President of the Illinois Conference of the American Association of University Professors and is chair of the Illinois Conference Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure. He serves as an at-large member on his university's AAUP chapter council.
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[edit] Advocacy
He is a nationally known advocate of academic freedom and has defended free-speech rights of many scholars who were denied tenure, incarcerated or removed from their position for speech and controversial writings. These include Norman Finkelstein,[1] Ward Churchill, Richard Berthold, Loretta Capeheart and Namita Goswami.[citation needed] Kirstein has been strongly criticized for his positions on the Iraq War and American foreign policy,[citation needed] and has spoken at a conference hosted by David Irving.[2] Professor Kirstein debated conservative David Horowitz on the Iraq War and academic freedom.[citation needed] He has also lectured or appeared on panels at universities across the United States on topics ranging from war and international security to academic freedom.
[edit] Air Force Email Controversy
Kirstein initially gained notoriety in a nationally publicized academic freedom case when an e-mail surfaced revealing that he made vitriolic comments to a United States Air Force Academy cadet in late October 2002.[3] His email was in response to a cadet's e-mail request to promote an academic forum on "America's Challenges in an Unstable World: Balancing Security with Liberty" at the United States Air Force Academy. Kirstein refused to support the forum due to his opposition to war and "your aggressive baby killing tactics of collateral damage."[4][5] Kirstein's e-mail also compared the cadet to the Washington snipers.[4][5] The cadet, the Air Force Academy, St. Xavier University[4] and Kirstein[4] exchanged apologies.
As a result of these events he was reprimanded and suspended from his position at St. Xavier University for the remaining three weeks of the semester. He had a sabbatical the following semester, and submitted to early post-tenure review.[5][6]
[edit] Publications and Activities
Kirstein has written a book, Anglo over Bracero: The History of the Mexican Worker in the US from Roosevelt to Nixon (San Francisco: R and E Research Associates); ISBN 0882474421). His scholarship has been published by The Historian, Art in America, Situation Analysis, American Diplomacy, Journal of Mexican American History, Armed Forces and Society, and History News Network (HNN). Kirstein was honorably discharged from the US Army Reserves.[7] Kirstein published a book chapter "Academic Freedom since 9/11" in Matthew Morgan, ed., The Impact of 9/11 and the New Legal Landscape: The Day That Changed Everything (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009). A recent publication is "Hiroshima and Spinning the Atom: America, Britain, and Canada Proclaim the Nuclear Age, August 6, 1945," The Historian, Winter 2009, 805-27. Kirstein spoke at the College of Complexes in Chicago on July 10, 2010 on "Remembering Howard Zinn: Giving Voice to the Voiceless." Using recently released FBI files, Kirstein has published an article for HNN, "The People’s Historian and the FBI Zinn Files." His review of Cary Nelson, No University is an Island appears in Logos: A Journal of Modern Society and Culture, 2011.
Kirstein appeared on the Kevin Barrett, Truth Jihad Radio show on the American Freedom Radio network Friday, March 11, 2011. The prgram is broadcast from Madison, Wisconsin and will explore the challenges to academic freedom and American Foreign Policy. He spoke at a teach-in at Northeastern Illinois University, April 26, 2011 on free speech and academic freedom: the event was endorsed by Noam Chomsky. He chaired and presented at a session, "Organizing for Academic Freedom," at the American Association of University Professors-Collective Bargaining Congress Midwest Regional Meeting at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Chicago on Saturday, April 30, 2011. He presented a paper on November 12, 2011, "Shared Governance and Academic Freedom Under Siege: How Illinois Committee A Battles to Protect Both," at the American Association of University Professors Shared Governance Conference in Washington, D.C. Kirstein discussed academic freedom issues on Kevin Barrett's, "Truth Jihad," radio program on Monday, December 12, 2011. On Sunday, April 15, 2012, he will present a scholarly paper, "Remembering the Atomic Genocide of Hiroshima and Nagasaki: The Politics of Hate, Geopolitical Realism and the Enduring Relevance of Gar Alperovitz," at the Midwest Political Science Association annual meeting in Chicago.
[edit] References
- ^ Furor over Norman Finkelstein, Z Communications, April 7, 2007. Accessed 3 June 2010.
- ^ Should Respectable Historians Attend and Speak at Conferences Hosted by David Irving?, History News Network Sept. 20, 2004. Accessed 3 June 2010.
- ^ O'Bryant, Jeff (2006-03-15). "A gaping hole in their logic". Catoosa County News. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=bMoEAAAAIBAJ&sjid=cT8DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6478,1773597&dq=eter+n+kirstein. Retrieved 2008-11-09.[dead link]
- ^ a b c d "University Apologizes For E-Mail Critical Of Academy Cadet". Denver News. November 14, 2002. http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/1785699/detail.html. Retrieved 11 November 2008.
- ^ a b c "The Historian Who Denounced the Military for "Baby-Killing" Tactics". George Mason University's History News Network. November 8, 2002. http://hnn.us/articles/1095.html. Retrieved 22 November 2008.
- ^ Morgan, Richard (December 6, 2002). "Saint Xavier U. Suspends Professor for E-Mail Message". The Chronicle of Higher Education. http://chronicle.com/free/v49/i15/15a01402.htm. Retrieved 11 November 2008.
- ^ Lavoie, Dan (July 31, 2005). "Life After Controversy: SXU prof turns "baby-killer" comment into "career-maker"". Foundation for Individual Rights in Education. http://www.thefire.org/index.php/article/6200.html. Retrieved 22 November 2008.
