Article: Does this woman look DANGEROUS to you?
Does this woman look DANGEROUS to you?
Local professor called 1 of nation's 101 most dangerous academics
By Bill Engle Staff writer
Caroline Higgins drinks ginger herbal tea while listening to classical music in her softly lit office at Earlham College.
She loves playing classical piano, preferably Chopin, Haydn and Bach.
The 66-year-old grandmother with light, reddish hair and a soft voice has been married to the same man for 40 years.
She has lived in Richmond since 1974, has taught peace studies at Earlham since 1987 and has directed the school's peace studies program since 2002.
But Higgins is one of the 101 most dangerous academics in the U.S., according to conservative author and commentator David Horowitz.
Horowitz listed Higgins in his new book "The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America," along with Ball State University peace studies professor George Wolfe.
Many consider it funny to think of Higgins as dangerous. But it's not funny to her.
"It is never pleasant to be attacked," Higgins said, "especially when the person attacking you is telling lies about you."
She said Horowitz has formed his opinion by taking the curriculum from her peace studies classes and blending it with his professed belief that peace programs are basically tools of the Marxist left.
"It's ironic," Higgins said. "This is a peace studies program, not a war studies program or a terrorist program. We are seeking alternatives to violence and coercion."
But Horowitz said Higgins' ploy is similar to that of many of the academics on his list: they indoctrinate students with views that are thinly academic and strongly political.
"She is posing as a pacifist at a pacifist college but she's really a communist," Horowitz said from his Los Angeles office last week. "My concern is that students at Earlham who take this course do not get a variety of viewpoints. Is there a professor of military science there to balance what is presented?
"I don't object to pacifism, but you shouldn't be forced to think as a pacifist."
Horowitz said Higgins' class teaches that terrorists are freedom fighters and that America is an imperialist power.
Horowitz, however, has never been on either the Earlham or Ball State campus.
Higgins landed on the list with such well-known activists-turned-educators as Noam Chomsky of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Angela Davis of University of California, Santa Cruz, Michael Berube of Penn State University, Bernardine Dohrn of Northwestern University and Derrick Bell of New York University.
Wolfe said he believes he is listed because he directs Ball State's Peace and Conflict Studies program. He said he finds the listing both amusing and disturbing.
"On one level it is humorous, ridiculous and absurd," Wolfe said. "On another level it is scary. "
Wolfe calls attacks by Horowitz and other neo-conservatives "the new McCarthyism."
"Mr. Horowitz is trying to use the Patriot Act to try to intimidate people like myself and Caroline Higgins the same way Mr. (Joseph) McCarthy used the Smith Act to attack people in the 1950s. Not since the time of Socrates has so much attention been given to teachers who challenge their students to think critically and question authority."
Higgins said the idea that she is indoctrinating students at Earlham is completely wrong.
"You can tell (Horowitz) has never been on the Earlham campus," she said. "He seems to think Earlham students are passive and just sit in the classroom and let professors indoctrinate them. Nothing could be further from the truth.
"Personally, I don't lecture very much. I have discussion classes," she said. "I think Horowitz is probably mad that we are not in favor of the war. We're not giving war a chance."
Higgins said she believes that what Horowitz objects to are Quakers, who are known as pacifists and as people who speak out.
In his book, Horowitz said Higgins' course, "Methods of Peacemaking," "amounts to a for-credit blueprint for left-wing activism."
But Higgins claims no left-wing leanings. She said she remains opposed to war, adding that she will teach for one more year and then retire and dedicate more time to working against the war in Iraq.
"This has made me think about what I do as a teacher and about our program," she said. "I would also like to write a letter to the Earlham faculty and talk about the accusations and their implications to the college.
"I'm concerned about the erosions of freedoms in this country."
Local professor called 1 of nation's 101 most dangerous academics
By Bill Engle Staff writer
Caroline Higgins drinks ginger herbal tea while listening to classical music in her softly lit office at Earlham College.
She loves playing classical piano, preferably Chopin, Haydn and Bach.
The 66-year-old grandmother with light, reddish hair and a soft voice has been married to the same man for 40 years.
She has lived in Richmond since 1974, has taught peace studies at Earlham since 1987 and has directed the school's peace studies program since 2002.
But Higgins is one of the 101 most dangerous academics in the U.S., according to conservative author and commentator David Horowitz.
Horowitz listed Higgins in his new book "The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America," along with Ball State University peace studies professor George Wolfe.
Many consider it funny to think of Higgins as dangerous. But it's not funny to her.
"It is never pleasant to be attacked," Higgins said, "especially when the person attacking you is telling lies about you."
She said Horowitz has formed his opinion by taking the curriculum from her peace studies classes and blending it with his professed belief that peace programs are basically tools of the Marxist left.
"It's ironic," Higgins said. "This is a peace studies program, not a war studies program or a terrorist program. We are seeking alternatives to violence and coercion."
But Horowitz said Higgins' ploy is similar to that of many of the academics on his list: they indoctrinate students with views that are thinly academic and strongly political.
"She is posing as a pacifist at a pacifist college but she's really a communist," Horowitz said from his Los Angeles office last week. "My concern is that students at Earlham who take this course do not get a variety of viewpoints. Is there a professor of military science there to balance what is presented?
"I don't object to pacifism, but you shouldn't be forced to think as a pacifist."
Horowitz said Higgins' class teaches that terrorists are freedom fighters and that America is an imperialist power.
Horowitz, however, has never been on either the Earlham or Ball State campus.
Higgins landed on the list with such well-known activists-turned-educators as Noam Chomsky of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Angela Davis of University of California, Santa Cruz, Michael Berube of Penn State University, Bernardine Dohrn of Northwestern University and Derrick Bell of New York University.
Wolfe said he believes he is listed because he directs Ball State's Peace and Conflict Studies program. He said he finds the listing both amusing and disturbing.
"On one level it is humorous, ridiculous and absurd," Wolfe said. "On another level it is scary. "
Wolfe calls attacks by Horowitz and other neo-conservatives "the new McCarthyism."
"Mr. Horowitz is trying to use the Patriot Act to try to intimidate people like myself and Caroline Higgins the same way Mr. (Joseph) McCarthy used the Smith Act to attack people in the 1950s. Not since the time of Socrates has so much attention been given to teachers who challenge their students to think critically and question authority."
Higgins said the idea that she is indoctrinating students at Earlham is completely wrong.
"You can tell (Horowitz) has never been on the Earlham campus," she said. "He seems to think Earlham students are passive and just sit in the classroom and let professors indoctrinate them. Nothing could be further from the truth.
"Personally, I don't lecture very much. I have discussion classes," she said. "I think Horowitz is probably mad that we are not in favor of the war. We're not giving war a chance."
Higgins said she believes that what Horowitz objects to are Quakers, who are known as pacifists and as people who speak out.
In his book, Horowitz said Higgins' course, "Methods of Peacemaking," "amounts to a for-credit blueprint for left-wing activism."
But Higgins claims no left-wing leanings. She said she remains opposed to war, adding that she will teach for one more year and then retire and dedicate more time to working against the war in Iraq.
"This has made me think about what I do as a teacher and about our program," she said. "I would also like to write a letter to the Earlham faculty and talk about the accusations and their implications to the college.
"I'm concerned about the erosions of freedoms in this country."
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