LEADER 03840nam 2200697 a 450 001 9910455080703321 005 20200520144314.0 010 $a1-282-08945-5 010 $a9786612089459 010 $a0-300-14519-5 024 7 $a10.12987/9780300145199 035 $a(CKB)1000000000764819 035 $a(StDuBDS)AH23049962 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000171955 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11152188 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000171955 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10150552 035 $a(PQKB)10673930 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3420432 035 $a(DE-B1597)485002 035 $a(OCoLC)666930730 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780300145199 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL3420432 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10315693 035 $a(CaONFJC)MIL208945 035 $a(OCoLC)923593550 035 $a(EXLCZ)991000000000764819 100 $a20071025d2008 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aur||||||||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 10$aHistory lesson$b[electronic resource] $ea race odyssey /$fMary Lefkowitz 210 $aNew Haven, Conn. $cYale University Press$dc2008 215 $a1 online resource (208 p.) 300 $aBibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph 311 $a0-300-12659-X 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. 161-187) and index. 327 $aA racist incident? -- Discovering afrocentrism -- Two views of ancient history -- Turning myths into history -- A new anti-Semitism -- Truth or slander? -- Reparations? -- A racist polemic? -- Turning history into fiction. 330 $aIn the early 1990's, Classics professor Mary Lefkowitz discovered that one of her faculty colleagues at Wellesley College was teaching his students that Greek culture had been stolen from Africa and that Jews were responsible for the slave trade. This book tells the disturbing story of what happened when she spoke out. Lefkowitz quickly learned that to investigate the origin and meaning of myths composed by people who have for centuries been dead and buried is one thing, but it is quite another to critique myths that living people take very seriously. She also found that many in academia were reluctant to challenge the fashionable idea that truth is merely a form of opinion. For her insistent defense of obvious truths about the Greeks and the Jews, Lefkowitz was embroiled in turmoil for a decade. She faced institutional indifference, angry colleagues, reverse racism, anti-Semitism, and even a lawsuit intended to silence her. In History Lesson Lefkowitz describes what it was like to experience directly the power of both postmodernism and compensatory politics. She offers personal insights into important issues of academic values and political correctness, and she suggests practical solutions for the divisive and painful problems that arise when a political agenda takes precedence over objective scholarship. Her forthright tale uncovers surprising features in the landscape of higher education and an unexpected need for courage from those who venture there. 606 $aHistory$xStudy and teaching (Higher)$zMassachusetts 606 $aPostmodernism and higher education 606 $aRacism in higher education 606 $aAntisemitism in higher education 606 $aAcademic freedom 608 $aElectronic books. 615 0$aHistory$xStudy and teaching (Higher) 615 0$aPostmodernism and higher education. 615 0$aRacism in higher education. 615 0$aAntisemitism in higher education. 615 0$aAcademic freedom. 676 $a907.1/17447 700 $aLefkowitz$b Mary R.$f1935-$0156203 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910455080703321 996 $aHistory lesson$92474636 997 $aUNINA