7bec3b03_s_to_fear___Academic_Jobs_Wiki___Department
[School] University of Tennessee at Knoxville [Issue and Date] The College itself has been a nightmare for minority junior faculty. See: www.wbir.com/pdf/georgewhite2.pdf and http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=47895 The mindset is medieval. See: http://www.leavingacademia.com/on-being-postacademic/ Given the bullying and manipulation of key administrators within the College of Arts and Sciences (http://www.artsci.utk.edu/administration.asp), it's a surprise that anyone stays here. The corruption extends all the way up to the Provost of the University (http://provost.utk.edu/bio/martin_bio.shtml). See: http://www.counterpunch.org/price08102009.html and http://sfaanet.ning.com/profiles/blogs/inquisition-in-knoxville-the As someone currently on the faculty and committed to a diverse faculty body, I can report that the University is making an effort at rectifying the problem. The College of Arts & Sciences has recently devoted four bonus tenure lines a year to diversifying the faculty. Last year saw the hiring of four Africanist (dually-appointed) professors, three of whom are black. http://web.utk.edu/~africana/Directory.htm While the University could definitely be more diverse, the situation is not nearly as 'medieval' as telegraphed here. Hmmm.. the hiring of a bunch of African and African-African ASSISTANT professors within Africana Studies is viewed as "making an effort at rectifying the problem"? There is actually a net deficit in terms of RETAINING faculty of color within the College of Arts and Sciences over the last five years. The rationales that were offered to justify the departures of Wornie Reed and several other Af-Am faculty in COAS departments under the Bursten Regime (and yes it was a regime) were a result of the "medieval mindset" described by the first poster. However, one can make a handsome career at UTK by becoming an apologist for bigotry, as the second poster apparently intends to do. 11/17/11: I would like to point out that Bursten, who was a key problem, is no longer in administration. In fact, if you look at the White memo linked above--that whole situation was a travesty of justice--none of the administrators (Holub, Bursten, and Diacon) are still administrating. As for the Mostern article linked above, he appears to have left the university about a decade ago. It may be premature to move this entry to "old," but it's not exactly current, either. [Department] 
College of Arts and Sciences
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