This is the original English version of a conversation I recently had with Ivana Perić of Novosti, which was translated into Croatian and can be found here.
Ivana Perić: In your address delivered for the students at Virginia Tech, you talk about punishment and reward in the corporate university. Let’s start the same way you start in your address, by mapping out your relationship with Virginia Tech?
Steven Salaita: It’s a complicated relationship. A lot of people in my family and in my wife’s family went to Virginia Tech, including my father and both of my siblings. I spent a lot of time on campus in my youth, so when I was offered a job there it felt like an exciting opportunity. Tech is the kind of place where retention is a concern, especially with young faculty and faculty of color. It wasn’t a worry with me. My wife and I were thrilled to be in Blacksburg. But in the end, as with all campuses, Tech’s interests aligned with centers of power—in this case military power—and I had to go. It wasn’t a pleasant separation.
Continue reading “When Critical Thinking Becomes Undesirable: Ivana Perić Interviews Steven Salaita”