Harassment in Academia

In April 2023, WCC collaborated with Everyday Orientalism and the American Society of Papyrologists to co-host a panel discussion about Harassment in Academia.

Organizers: Katherine Blouin (Everyday Orientalism), Suzanne Lye (WCC)

Facilitators: Rebecca Futo Kennedy and Jackie Murray

Panelists: Ananya Jahanara Kabir, Sheryl Nestel, Jennifer Sheridan Moss, Sunny Singh , Our Harvard Can Do Better, Feminist Working Group of the Harvard Graduate Student Union

For a full bio of these contributors, click here.

Harassment in Academia Panel Discussion

Event Description

This panel discussion offers thoughts on the topic of sexual, identity-based, & professional harassment. A key question the speakers address is: How can survivors and accomplices better prevent harassment, care for survivors and work towards reparatory justice?

Harassment is a chronic issue in universities and in academia at large. This phenomenon has been made visible over the past few years through a series of high profile cases ranging from sexual harrassment of students and colleagues by male faculty (see here, here and here), to the bullying and harassment of university workers belonging to traditionally marginalized groups (see notably here here and here), to harassment and doxxing of public-facing scholars by far-right and conspirationist individuals and organization (see notably here and here).

While these stories have made it in the open, freeing tongues and generating important conversations in the process, they remain the tip of the iceberg. Indeed, due to its often evasive nature and the power dynamics at play, harassment and its traumatic consequences remains way more rampant in academic contexts than is visible from the outside. While silence and brain drain remain more frequent than accountability, an increasing number of students, scholars and activists are building communities of care and working towards structural changes.

WCC-Sponsored Resources

In 2018, WCC’s leadership, spearheaded by former Co-Chair Rebecca Futo Kennedy, sponsored a series of events and publications related to the topic of Harrassment in Academia. Click on the following links to read more:

Additional Resources

The following is a list of references and resources cited by the panelists and participants during the course of the panel. For a full list of resources, visit the Everyday Orientalism Harassment X Academia event page.

References