**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.

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.

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.

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)

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/

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.

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

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.

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