Category: issues

James J. Krupa, biology professor at the University of Kentucky: “Where I live, many believe evolution to be synonymous with atheism, and there are those who strongly feel I am teaching heresy to thousands of students. A local pastor, whom I’ve never met, wrote an article in the University Christian complaining that, not only was I teaching evolution and ignoring creationism, I was teaching it as a non-Christian, alternative religion.”

“His personal ire is frequently directed at what he calls Yunnies, or young urban narcissists. Yunnies are, by his account, the silent accomplices of hyper-gentrification: de-cultured millennials who actively like to shop at Target and could not care less if a quirky shrine like Bill’s Gay Nineties, which is the tavern where Tallulah Bankhead used to drink and which closed three years ago, is turned into a garish, high-end restaurant.”

“If they would have once come and said, ‘We know these paintings are not ours, but, look, they are national treasures for us. Can you sit down and negotiate?’ Not once did they even attempt it or answer a letter of mine. … They feel they got away with and they (feel they) will get away with it, and they will pat themselves on their back, and this is what makes me so angry.”

It’s pretty shocking that humanities scholars, alleged proponents of what Germans call the “science of the spirit” (Geisteswissenschaften), believe some facets of the spirit are worthier of science than others—often using, by the way, the same soulless determinants of “market value” that those outside the academy use to deride the entire professoriate altogether.

“There were howls of protest in 2012 when Newcastle City Council said it would be the first British city to scrap funding for theatres, galleries and other arts venues. A compromise was found, and venues are now finding new ways to survive.”

The day after the director of Novosibirsk’s opera house was fired over a controversial production of Tannhäuser, a top Kremlin official “proposed that theatrical productions be subject to ‘inspections’ before they are presented to the public. Though [he] did not use the word ‘censorship’ (which is explicitly prohibited by the Russian constitution), this would represent a return to the Soviet system of preliminary censorship, in which no work of literature, theatre, or film could appear without the approval of government censors.”

“The arts need their space. For the roughly 2,000 arts organizations in Philadelphia, whether fledgling or established, space is typically one of the greatest expenses and most critical needs, second only to personnel. At the same time, some two-thirds of Center City Philadelphia sacred places report having space that could potentially be available for sharing with the community.”

In a small study in which participants evaluated paintings, the researchers found that “the higher the subjectively perceived degree of ambiguity within an artwork, the more participants liked it, and the more interesting and affecting it was for them.”

“Cultural figures in Russia today describe a climate of confusion and anxiety in which the law banning obscenities, as well as a 2013 law that criminalizes acts offending religious believers, are often ignored unless someone wants them applied.” Under the Soviets, said one publisher, “at least we knew the rules.”

“I have observed over the past 10 years, as the need for major donors has grown, that when one donor provides a substantial percentage of total money raised, too many beneficiary organizations are ceding far too much authority to that donor.”