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Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eCampus News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

Professor’s Facebook comments about Muslims brings campus outcry, lawsuit

A national free-speech organization critcized PUC's response to faculty complaints.

A Purdue University Calumet (PUC) professor who was reprimanded for a series of Facebook comments critical of Muslims, drawing harsh criticism from students and faculty members, has filed a free-speech lawsuit against the university.

Maurice Eisenstein, an associate professor of political science at PUC, posted a picture of Facebook last November of “Christians killed by a radical Muslim group.” Eisenstein criticized “moderate Muslims” for failing to condemn the alleged attack.

He added that Muslims are “still looking at the earth as flat according to the idiot Mohammad [sic], may his name be cursed.” Eisenstein was accused of engaging in a heated exchange with a PUC student on Facebook.…Read More

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Syracuse reverses course after expelling student for Facebook post

Syracuse drew public criticism for expelling a graduate student.

College students and activists on Twitter and Facebook this week dubbed Syracuse University a campus “where free speech goes to die” after the school’s second social media controversy since 2010.

Syracuse readmitted a graduate student Jan. 19 after a free-speech organization publicized the university’s punishment for posting racially tinged comments on Facebook.

Read more about social media controversies in higher education……Read More

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Google’s convoluted search for China compromise

Shedding China’s shackles on free speech is proving to be easier said than done for Google Inc, reports the Associated Press. The internet search leader is still censoring its results in China a month after Google’s leaders took a public stand against Chinese laws that require the removal of links to web sites that the government deems subversive or offensive. Citing the sensitivity of the talks, Google officials won’t say how the negotiations have been going since the company issued its Jan. 12 threat to shut down its China-based search engine and possibly leave the country altogether. Google is demanding that the government tear down the so-called “Great Firewall” that seeks to keep China’s citizens from finding politically sensitive information and images.

Google’s top lawyer, David Drummond, initially said that Google would take a few weeks to meet with government officials before deciding what to do. But Google officials now say the company might parse its Chinese search results for several more months while it steers through a political and cultural minefield in search of a compromise with the ruling party…

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