Handmade posters depicting the book covers of George Orwell’s “1984,” William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies” and countless other controversial American classics adorned the walls of a crowded Purdue University lecture hall filled Tuesday night with activists, students, professors, a state legislator and French documentary filmmakers. The most controversial author on Purdue’s campus these days — Howard Zinn — was what brought the crowd to Purdue. More than 100 people came together Tuesday at the West Lafayette research university to read and celebrate the work of the controversial anti-war historian whose name has been uttered frequently around campus this year. When he was Indiana governor, Purdue President Mitch Daniels tried to rid from schools Zinn’s book “A People’s History of the United States,” which he called execrable and inaccurate, according to revelations in an exclusive Associated Press story published in July. Purdue professors and history scholars nationwide denounced Daniels for what some called an attack on academic freedom. In response, Daniels doubled down on his criticism of Zinn, who he called an “anti-American academic” in emails he sent to his staff members and others while he was in office.
Posted on: Thu, 07 Nov 2013 13:02:30 +0000
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