A Faculty Response to Prof. Michel DeGraff
Publisher’s Note: The following letter to the editor addresses a prior guest column (“Is MIT’s #MindHandHeart...”) authored by Professor of Linguistics Michel DeGraff and published on June 13, 2024. This response was signed by several senior faculty members of the Department of Linguistics in response to an ongoing dispute between DeGraff and the Department of Linguistics regarding a proposed Fall 2024 seminar that touches upon the Israel-Palestine conflict.
We write as senior members of the Linguistics faculty in response to comments of a personal nature that appeared in four paragraphs of a recent (June 13) Guest Column by Prof. Michel DeGraff of our department. We want to express our strongest possible support of our colleague and department head Prof. Danny Fox, who was attacked in this column.
Prof. DeGraff finds himself at odds with a negative decision of his department concerning a proposed Fall seminar entitled "Language and linguistics for decolonization and liberation and for peace and community-building from the river to the sea in Palestine and Israel to the mountaintops of Haiti and beyond.” We believe that his account of events does not accurately characterize the process leading to this decision.
Although we do not believe that this is an appropriate venue to discuss the details, we do think it is important to clarify that the decision concerning the proposed seminar has been the result of a course approval process involving a proposal, a committee, and discussion by the department as a whole. The decision did not stem from our Head's nationality and political beliefs (which, as it happens, Prof. DeGraff's column characterizes misleadingly), and to imply that it did is an unwarranted personal attack.
Sincerely,
Adam Albright
Kai von Fintel
Edward Flemming
Suzanne Flynn
Martin Hackl
Sabine Iatridou
David Pesetsky
Norvin Richards
Donca Steriade