Editorial
A Letter to the Editor
By Literature and Creative Writing Department at Hamilton College
December 1, 2016
Tags letter to the editor
To the editor:
The 2016 presidential election was marred by verbal abuse and misrepresentation, by the use of language to obfuscate, injure, and divide. That campaign rhetoric has already begun to spur actions that further weaken social bonds, violate individual rights, and threaten lives.
The members of the Literature and Creative Writing Department at Hamilton College renew their commitment to language as a means of creating understanding across differences and of improving the world. As individual citizens and as teachers, we dedicate ourselves to supporting those of our students and colleagues who are most immediately affected by the current political climate, and to resisting the coarsening of both language and political life. Finally, as members of the broader Hamilton community, we support efforts to make Hamilton a sanctuary for undocumented students.
We enthusiastically support the recent statement from the Modern Language Association:
Throughout the campaign and in the aftermath of the presidential election in the United States, sharp political lines have been drawn that pit groups and individuals against one another on the basis of national origin, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, migration status, ability, class, and other forms of identity. The Modern Language Association reaffirms in the strongest terms possible its commitment to free inquiry and academic freedom for all, unimpeded by acts of prejudice and hate. We note especially the need to offer support to those who are the most vulnerable and condemn the unjust rhetoric that targets them. We recognize that the humanities and humanistic knowledge are now more essential than ever to help guide us in these difficult times, and we pledge to maintain the MLA as an organization open to all individuals who share our commitments.
Margaret Thickstun, Jane Watson Irwin Professor of Literature
Naomi Guttman, Professor of Literature and Creative Writing
Tina Hall, Associate Professor of Literature and Creative Writing
Doran Larson, the Walcott-Bartlett Professor of Ethics and Christian Evidences
Hoa Ngo, Visiting Assistant Professor of Literature and Creative Writing
Vincent Odamtten, Professor of Literature
Onno Oerlemans, Professor of Literature
John O’Neill, the Edmund A. LeFevre Professor of English Emeritus
Nancy Rabinowitz, Professor of Comparative Literature
Peter Rabinowitz, Professor of Comparative Literature
Andrew Rippeon, Visiting Assistant Professor of Literature
Nhora Serrano, Visiting Assistant Professor of Comparative Literature
Jane Springer, Associate Professor of Professor of Literature and Creative Writing
Nathaniel Strout, Associate Professor of English
Pavitra Sundar, Assistant Professor of Literature
Katherine Terrell, Associate Professor of Literature
Benjamin Widiss, Associate Professor of Literature
Steve Yao, the Edmund A. LeFevre Professor of Literature