Aug 14, 2018
The critical theorists and social justice warriors are trying to
do to medieval studies what they’ve done to other disciplines, and
if you don’t get on board, you’re a white supremacist. Over the
past two years or so, the mob has targeted University of Chicago
professor Rachel Fulton Brown, calling her a fascist, trying to
intimidate her department into censuring her, and banning her from
conference sessions. She joins me to discuss her ordeal, why even
tenured professors are willing to stand up for unpopular truths,
and the stakes of the battle for medieval studies.
Links
Rachel Fulton Brown’s academic homepage
http://home.uchicago.edu/~rfulton/
Milo Yiannopoulos’s essay “Why the Battle for Medieval Studies
Matters to America” (profanity warning) https://www.dangerous.com/45111/middle-rages/
Rachel’s fascinating Professional Self-Portrait
http://home.uchicago.edu/~rfulton/Professional%20Self%20Portrait.pdf
Mary and the Art of Prayer: The Hours of the Virgin in
Medieval Christian Life and Thought:
Purchase https://amzn.to/2MPrGFf
Read Chapter 2
https://issuu.com/columbiaup/docs/mary_and_the_art_of_prayer_ave_mari
Timestamps
2:56 Rachel Fulton Brown
3:41 The initial blog post that made Rachel’s colleagues
angry
10:15 Rachel’s friendship with Milo Yiannopoulos
15:19 The progressive witch hunt within medieval studies
28:25 The letter 1,500 academics signed attempting to get her
department to censure her
34:40 Rachel’s defenders in academia
36:49 Why even tenured academics fear the mob
41:23 Critical theorists coming from English literature into
medieval studies
45:27 What will be lost if medieval studies is taken over by
progressives: the study of Christianity
51:02 This week’s reading: Bl. John Henry
Newman
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