Ithaca College

After the American Studies Association (ASA) declared its support in December for an international boycott of Israeli academic institutions, President Tom Rochon and other academic executives across the country hastened to condemn the ASA's action and the boycott. During the winter break, President Rochon issued a statement in Intercom.

Cornell Professor and ASA member Eric Cheyfitz will present a case in support of the resolution, for which he voted, and discuss responses to it at a public talk on Tuesday, February 25, at 7:00 p.m. in Klingenstein Lounge, Campus Center.

The ASA has become the center of a firestorm. A bill in front of the New York State legislature that would strip funding from university groups involved in the boycott. Similar measures are being considered in other state legislatures and in the U.S. Congress.

Students are especially invited to attend, and you can look through the study guide, offered through the IC Library, to get background info before the talk.

Eric Cheyfitz is the Ernest I. White Professor of American Studies and Humane Letters at Cornell University, where he teaches American literatures, American Indian literatures, and federal Indian law. He is former director of Cornell’s American Indian Program. He has written three books and numerous published articles, and he's been widely interviewed on TV and radio. He has also given testimony on issues of both Native rights and academic freedom. He recently discussed the ASA boycott on Democracy Now! and in the Journal of Higher Education.

The event is cosponsored by the Departments of English and Politics; Center for the Study of Culture, Race, and Ethnicity; and Park Center for Independent Media.

Individuals with disabilities requiring accommodations should contact Brandy Hawley, 607-274-3590; bhawley@ithaca.edu. We ask that requests for accommodations be made as soon as possible.