Office Hours Higher Ed

About Office Hours Higher Ed

A podcast about higher ed politics in the end times. Interviews with activists, faculty, staff, and students about the state of higher ed from a radical perspective.

Publisher

Office Hours

Category

education · news

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

25 Nov 2022

Latest episode

22 Jan 2024

Latest episodes

16 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   22 Jan 2024

   Faculty Lounge Episode: CSU Strike and Faculty for Justice in Palestine

   Welcome to Office Hours, a podcast about campus politics in the end times. We’re back after a brief hiatus for winter break! Today’s episode is a Faculty Lounge episode, where we are checking in on some current news in higher ed. We’ll be discussing the brand new faculty strike in the Cal State system and pro-Palestine faculty and staff organizing. Links relevant to the discussion: ‘They can afford fair compensation’: faculty at largest US public college system strike for equitable salaries | California | The Guardian Cal State faculty just got a 5% raise. Here's why they're upset Cal State tuition to increase 34% over next five years - CalMatters Strike - California Faculty Association. Howard Bunsis Fall 2023 Assembly Presentation on CSU Budget Penn Faculty for Justice in Palestine | Announcement statement of Palestinian solidarity chapter formation | The Daily Pennsylvanian Palestinian Artist Samia Halaby Slams Indiana University for Canceling Exhibit over Her Support for Gaza | Democracy Now!

2. 

   14 Dec 2023

   Organizing In A Climate of Fear: Pro-Palestine Campus Organizers Speak Out

   For today’s podcast we’re sharing interviews with two student activists involved in Palestine solidarity organizing on their campuses. Instead of our usual format where we bring all of our guests together for a discussion, today we’re bringing you two interviews back to back. Our guests focus on the ongoing repression that activists are facing at their universities. As our listeners may know, anti-Palestinian repression on campuses is intensifying. At the time of this recording Rutgers has just suspended its SJP chapter and the DOE is launching an investigation into organizing on multiple campuses. Guests: Our first guest is Jannine Masoud, a law student at Rutgers University, member of the National Lawyers Guild, and Palestine solidarity activist for over a decade. Our second guest is going by “X”, and is a law student and student organizer at UCLA School of Law. Also, a note on our interview with X: due to the intense climate of harassment and doxxing of pro-Palestine organizers, X has asked that their voice be distorted in order to protect their identity. So if you’re wondering why the audio sounds a little strange - that’s why. Faculty, staff, and student listeners: support your campus SJP or Palestine solidarity group! Pressure your union to sign on to labor calls for a ceasefire now. Demand that administrators protect students from harassment. Demand that your union protect academic workers from retaliation. If you are a faculty member (which they define to include any campus worker who supports student learning), consider joining the newly formed Faculty for Justice in Palestine. Relevant links: Palestinian Freedom, Antisemitism Accusations, and Civil Rights Law - LPE Project Rutgers-New Brunswick suspends pro-Palestine student group – NBC10 Philadelphia Penn president resigns after antisemitism criticism | AP News SJP Statement 12_13_23.pdf Rutgers Faculty For Justice in Palestine Releases Statement

3. 

   21 Nov 2023

   Fighting For a Free Palestine On Our Campuses: Faculty Lounge Episode

   In this episode, David and Laura recap the unprecedented wave of pro-Palestine organizing happening on U.S. college campuses over the past few weeks. We also discuss the repression these movements are facing from campus administrators and pro-Israel organizations (who have a long history of targeting campus anti-Zionist organizing). We talk about the role of universities in social movements, where this movement might be headed, and what we'd like to see happen in the coming weeks. We also reflect on the tendency of the pundit class to dismiss youth organizing and infantilize young people who are leading the way in the fight for Palestinian liberation. Some articles mentioned in our discussion: Appalling: Columbia University suspends JVP and SJP student chapters The Shift: Brandeis becomes first school to ban Students for Justice in Palestine on campus – Mondoweiss 20 arrested during protest at Brown University | WPRI.com CUNY stands with Palestine liberation, despite what the chancellor says – Mondoweiss CUNY faculty and staff: We reject the Palestine Exception to free speech at CUNY – Mondoweiss Student Protests for Gaza Targeted by Pro-Israel Groups for Alleged Civil Rights Violations Israel’s War on American Student Activists | The Nation Students for Justice in Palestine at the University of Florida v. Raymond Rodrigues | American Civil Liberties Union Columbia University Apartheid Divest: Who we are Cops, Colleges, and Counterinsurgency: An Interview with Dylan Rodriguez

4. 

   6 Nov 2023

   Students and Faculty Organizing Against the Right in Florida

   In this episode we speak with faculty and student organizers from three Florida campuses. In Florida, Republicans are attacking higher education on several fronts. In late October, Ron DeSantis and the chancellor of Florida’s State University system ordered college presidents to deactivate Students for Justice in Palestine on their campuses. This continues a longer trend, which our guests address, a trend of right wing attacks on trans students and on disciplines that the right sees as too woke, such as ethnic studies and gender studies. These attacks also undermine labor rights for faculty. Despite the intensity of these attacks and the radical right’s gains, our guests see opportunities for mass politicization and cross-coalitional solidarity. Our interviewees provide an overview of the right wing attacks on higher education in Florida over the last year, and put them into a larger national context of higher ed privatization. Then we get into the different campaigns taking place on each campus, and break down some of the challenges of coalition building, overcoming student and faculty apathy, and attempting to fight for a more militant faculty union. Our interviewees: Katie is a Visiting Teaching Faculty at Florida International University and is the Membership Chair of the faculty union, UFF-FIU. She also organizes with Free FIU. Robert Cassanello is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Central Florida, president of the faculty union, UFF-UCF, and the faculty advisor for YDSA at UCF. Allan Frasheri is an undergraduate at the University of Florida, a co-chair of YDSA at UF, and an organizer with Free UF. Links: Florida Is Worth Fighting For: A Report on YDSA Organizing at Florida International University | Reform & Revolution FIU community protests HB999 and administration complacency - PantherNOW https://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/fiu-faculty-union-to-protest-stop-woke-act-15606486 Find us on social media: Instagram @officehourshighered Twitter @officehoursed

5. 

   16 Oct 2023

   ChatGPT And Us: Faculty Lounge Edition

   This week David and Laura are flying solo for a "Faculty Lounge" episode. Our topic: ChatGPT and Us. How do we respond to ChatGPT as academic workers with a radical critique of higher ed? Using recent think pieces by Corey Robin and Steven Salaita as jumping-off points, we reflect on the lack of a collective labor politics in most writing on ChatGPT; the positionality of our working-class students and their alienation from the learning experience; ChatGPT as an extension of the neoliberalization of higher ed; and why we identify with "cheaters." Please note: we are including two groups of links below: one on ChatGPT and one providing links to educational resources on Gaza and Palestine. Links on ChatGPT: Steven Salaita, "Yet Another Think-Piece on ChatGPT" Corey Robin, "How ChatGPT Changed My Plans For the Fall" JILL R. EHNENN AND CAROLYN BETENSKY, "ChatGPT and Academic Labor" Resources for Teaching on Gaza During an Attempted Genocide: https://teachpalestine.org/- a project of the Middle East Children's Alliance. Many useful links for educators such as: https://teachpalestine.org/resources/videos/- docs and films useful for the classroom https://teachpalestine.org/resources/books-for-educators/ - books for educators https://palestinett.org/ - "The Palestine Teaching Trunk" - teaching materials designed for high school, but could be used in higher ed as well visualizingpalestine.org/ -interactive posters that use statistics and other data to illustrate aspects of Palestinian life under Israeli rule. Listeners: Please share your thoughts on ChatGPT with us! You can find us on Instagram @officehourshighered or on Twitter @officehoursed. Fellow Educators: If you have more resources on teaching Palestine, the history of colonialism in the Middle East, and the history of anti-colonial movements - let us know and we will gladly share them.

6. 

   2 Oct 2023

   Centering Disability Justice in Academic Labor Organizing: The Case of the UC Grad Worker Strike

   In this episode we speak with Mary Jirmanus Saba, Dana Ernst, and Sarah Abusaa. Mary, Dana and Sarah are grad student workers and union organizers with United Auto Workers 2865. In their union, Mary, Dana and Sarah organize for disability justice and their work highlights the intersectional nature of labor struggles. As listeners to this podcast might know, in fall 2022, graduate student workers in the University of California system went on strike. Our guests played a role in writing the language for two contract articles dealing with workplace conditions: an Access Needs article that would have reduced barriers to access for workers, and a Public Health and Safety Article. The strike won wage increases, and this quickly became the dominant story. Unfortunately, the Access Needs and Public Health and Safety articles were not included in the final contract. As we learn from our guests, the union leadership didn’t take these rank-and-file demands seriously, and then tried to coopt the disability justice lens. We begin the interview by asking Mary, Dana and Sarah to discuss the ableist barriers graduate student workers face when attempting to get their access needs met. We then ask them to discuss how Covid-related health and safety activism aligned with disability justice organizing as the strike approached. From there we get into the strike, covering the joy of building power and the heartbreak of being silenced by union leadership. Interviewee Bios: Mary Jirmanus Saba is a geographer, filmmaker, mother and member of the Peoples CDC. Sarah Abusaa is an ecologist, epidemiologist, organizer, and current grad student. Dana Ernst is an oral historian and multimodal anthropologist, member of the Justice Coalition, and current grad student. Links discussed in the interview: University of California Workers Center Disability Justice in Union Organizing by Mary Jirmanus Saba UCLA Community Members Stage Sit-In To Demand Hybrid Learning Options Draft Language of Access Needs Article Disability Justice Articles FAQs UC Justice Coalition Substack UC Justice Coalition Linktree

7. 

   3 Jul 2023

   Summer Break Episode and End of the Year Grades

   Office Hours is taking the summer off! We've handed in our grades and logged out of our work emails until the fall! We'll be back in September with more episodes covering campus politics in the end times. In this last episode, David and Laura give passing and failing grades to the best and worst of the last academic year. Spoiler: SCOTUS and college presidents are going to need to take the class again! Some links based on our discussion: https://facultyfirstresponders.com/ https://itsgoingdown.org/a-communique-from-the-liberated-dining-halls-of-so-called-santa-cruz/ https://civileats.com/2022/12/16/op-ed-amid-academic-strikes-uc-students-liberated-their-cafeterias/ https://debtcollective.org/

8. 

   23 May 2023

   Confronting Faculty Sexual Harassment: Lessons From Feminist Organizing at UC Santa Cruz

   **Content Warning** for discussion of sexual harassment and assault. We do not include any graphic or detailed descriptions, but they are discussed in general terms throughout the episode. Today’s episode looks a little different from our usual format. Laura talks with a good friend from UC Santa Cruz, K, about our participation in an organizing campaign against faculty sexual harassment and assault that ultimately led to the firing of a tenured professor. Between 2017 and 2019, students and allies at UC Santa Cruz organized to bring attention to what they called a pattern of sexual harassment perpetrated by History of Consciousness professor Gopal Balakrishnan. In this discussion, we reconstruct the timeline of events that ultimately led to Balakrishnan’s firing in 2019. We also talk about our experiences with the Title IX office at UC Santa Cruz, why we believe Title IX was so unhelpful, our experiences with feminist and leftist faculty, the importance of "gossip" as feminist knowledge sharing, and the emotional labor that goes into organizing against sexual harassment and sexual assault. Ultimately, our conclusion is that feminist organizing and direct action are needed to challenge sexual harassment and sexual assault within academia. Relevant links for more info on the Balakrishnan case: https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/nidhisubbaraman/gopal-balakrishnan-sexual-harassment-investigation https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/nidhisubbaraman/gopal-balakrishnan-fired-santa-cruz Links for info on two other professors referenced in the interview (associated with New Left Review): https://stanforddaily.com/2017/11/16/harassment-assault-allegations-against-moretti-span-three-campuses/ https://www.latimes.com/local/education/la-me-ucla-sexual-misconduct-piterberg-20180318-story.html You can find us on Instagram @officehourshighered and Twitter @officehoursed.

9. 

   9 May 2023

   New York Liberation School with Conor Tomás Reed

   In this episode we talk with Conor Tomás Reed, an organizer and educator with a new book called New York Liberation School: Study and Movement for the People’s University, out this month with Common Notions Press. The book is a people’s history of CUNY, the City University of New York. It follows students and faculty as they created new forms of radical education, including the formation of Black, Puerto Rican, and Women's Studies at CUNY. It is also a reflection on the notion of “liberation schools” and the challenges and possibilities of engaging in radical teaching and learning within the bounds of the university. In our interview, we focus in particular on the years between 1969 and 1976, when CUNY saw a wave of student strikes and mobilizations, followed by administrative repression and counterinsurgency. Topics covered include the construction of “counter institutions” within and beyond the university, coalition building in movements, student writing as a form of political expression, and the possibilities for organizing in the university today. Details on our book giveaway: We will be giving away copies of Conor’s book on Twitter and Instagram. The first five followers to share our post will receive a free copy of New York Liberation School. Check our Twitter and Instagram for details: We are on Instagram @officehourshighered and on Twitter @officehoursed.

10. 

    9 Apr 2023

    Seattle University Adjunct Unionization Campaign with Larry Cushnie

    In this episode we discuss an adjunct unionization campaign that took place at Seattle University, a private Jesuit college in Seattle. The campaign began in 2013 and won a majority vote to unionize with SEIU, but the Seattle U administration sued to stall the vote count. Then, when the votes finally got counted, the admin refused to recognize the union and threatened to take the case up to the Supreme Court. Facing an uphill battle in the courts and the incoming Trump administration’s hostility to labor rights, the union leadership decided to end the campaign. Today, Seattle University’s adjuncts remain without a union. We talk with one of the key organizers in the campaign, a former Seattle University adjunct instructor named Larry Cushnie. Larry’s interview sheds light on the challenges that adjunct unionization drives face today and provides valuable lessons for organizers. Larry's Bio: Larry Cushnie is a parent and educator teaching politics and cannabis studies at South Seattle College.  In between classes, you can find him wrangling twins, collecting music, and doing crossword puzzles.

11. 

    12 Mar 2023

    ”Faculty Lounge” Edition: David and Laura discuss Temple strike and attacks on ed in Florida (no guest)

    Welcome to our first "Faculty Lounge" episode of Office Hours. David and Laura hang out in the faculty lounge, microwave a couple frozen burritos, look in all the empty drawers for forks but find only Splenda packets, and manage to track down some expired powdered non-dairy creamer for our vending machine coffee. Then we get cozy in our lounge chairs and chat about the state of higher ed. The main topics covered are the continuing grad worker strike at Temple and the attacks on higher ed, including access to trans health care on college campuses, being spearheaded by Governor DeSantis. Here are links to the articles we mention in our discussion: "Blow It Up" by Mathias Fuelling" on Verso blog Jason Wingards' EdTech Griftopia by Matt Seybold on LARB "Opinion: A university’s sinister move is unfortunately part of a familiar story" by Heather Anne Thompson on CNN.com A link to TUGSA's strike fund. Links to other organizing groups mentioned: Dream Defenders #CantBanUs Stand For Freedom petition USF Trans+ Student Union Find us on: Instagram (@officehourshigher ed) Twitter (@OfficeHoursEd)

12. 

    20 Feb 2023

    Eastern Michigan University Strike With Matt Kirkpatrick

    David and Laura talk about the fall 2022 faculty strike at Eastern Michigan University with Matt Kirkpatrick. Matt is an associate professor of English and held various leadership positions in EMU’s faculty union, which is AAUP. During the contract campaign and strike Matt was on the union’s negotiating team. In the interview we cover a range of topics, including the complexity of striking in a right-to-work state, how faculty pushed back against a proposed increase in their healthcare costs, as well as what it means to be “strike ready” even when you think you’re not. Matt can be reached at @MattKirkpatrick on Twitter or at his personal website, www.mattkirkpatrick.com. Update on Temple grad worker strike (referenced in the podcast): as of this podcast release, a tentative agreement has been reached between Temple and TUGSA. It has not yet been ratified by the members. https://billypenn.com/2023/02/18/temple-graduate-student-strike-agreement/

13. 

    6 Feb 2023

    UC Grad Worker Strike with Magally Miranda Alcázar: Part 2

    Laura and David discuss the recent UC strike with Magally A. Miranda Alcázar, a graduate student in the Chicanx and Central American Studies Department at UCLA. Maga was a participant in the strike and active in the rank-and-file movement to push for a No vote against contract ratification. Interviewee bio: Magally A. Miranda Alcázar is a doctoral candidate at UCLA, and an activist working at the intersection of gender, race, labor, and technological disruptions. Because of the length of our discussion with Maga, we’ve split the interview into two parts. This is Part Two. In this part we get into more depth on the dynamics of the strike as it unfolded, the importance of non-economic demands such as Cops Off Campus and disability access, the political ideology of the union leadership versus that of rank and file activists, and the impact of the strike on future campus politics.

14. 

    29 Jan 2023

    UC Grad Worker Strike with Magally Miranda Alcázar: Part 1

    Laura and David discuss the recent UC strike with Magally A. Miranda Alcázar, a graduate student in the Chicanx and Central American Studies Department at UCLA. Maga was a participant in the strike and active in the rank-and-file movement to push for a No vote against contract ratification. Interviewee bio: Magally A. Miranda Alcázar is a doctoral candidate at UCLA, and an activist working at the intersection of gender, race, labor, and technological disruptions. Because of the length of our discussion with Maga, we’ve split the interview into two parts. This is Part One. In part one we focus on the pre-history of the strike: the working and living conditions that led up to it, the student activism from 2009 to the present that influenced the strike, and the importance of internal politics and political factions within the union, UAW 2865. Articles referenced in the discussion: As a UC Academic Worker, I Need a Contract That Addresses the Cost of Living by Maga Alcázar No COLA, No Contract:On the Ground at the UC Strike by Zach Hicks and Rebecca Gross

15. 

    14 Jan 2023

    Rank and File Organizing at South Seattle College

    In this episode we talk with two faculty organizers at South Seattle College about building horizontal rank-and-file power within the faculty union. Zahra Alavi teaches English Language and Adult Education at South Seattle College and is a member of AFT 1789. Charlotte Brun is a faculty Librarian at South Seattle College and is also a member of AFT 1789. Our discussion covers topics such as fighting for open negotiations, the dynamics of white supremacy on the union executive board, student and faculty solidarity, and the importance of joy and community in organizing.

16. 

    25 Nov 2022

    Campus Debt Reveal Project with Joanna Gonsalves and Rich Levy

    Today we're looking at an ongoing organizing campaign by students and faculty at Salem State University, a Massachusetts public college, to expose campus debt and resist austerity measures being imposed by the school administration. We interview two faculty members, Joanna Gonsalves and Rich Levy, who have been involved with the Campus Debt Reveal Project. Interviewee Bios: Joanna Gonsalves is a Psychology Professor at Salem State University and Vice President of the Massachusetts State College Association. Rich Levy is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science at Salem State University and a member of the Coalition against Campus Debt. Note: Multiple times in the interview we reference Biden's student debt cancelation. Unfortunately the interview was recorded before the recent court ruling that blocked the cancelation, so our discussion is a little bit out of date. For more on the status of debt cancelation, you can read this article: https://www.reuters.com/legal/us-court-extends-block-bidens-student-loan-forgiveness-plan-2022-11-14/ Find more info about the project: www.theothercollegedebtcrisis.org Artwork by Arthur K. Check out their work at: https://rotradio.tumblr.com

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Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

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