A former visiting professor at North Carolina State University claims in a lawsuit that she was abruptly dropped from consideration for a permanent post after comments she made about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Terri Ginsberg said she had been a top tier candidate for a position in the university's film studies department until Oct. 24, 2007, when she gave an introduction to a movie called "Ticket to Jerusalem" at a film screening series on Middle Eastern topics.
Ginsberg said she gave the audience background on the Palestinian filmmaker, and thanked them for attending.
"By doing so, I stated, the audience was showing its support for the airing of Palestinian cultural perspectives, especially those which promote Palestinian liberation," she wrote in a sworn statement.
Superior Court Judge Shannon Joseph dismissed the lawsuit, but Ginsberg's lawyers filed an appeal late last month. No hearing date before the state Court of Appeals has been scheduled yet. If the appeal succeeds, the case would go back to Superior Court, potentially for a jury trial.
University spokesman Keith Nichols said the school doesn't comment on ongoing litigation.
The university gave a variety of reasons for not considering Ginsberg for the post, according to court documents, including a contention that she was overqualified and that her developing interest in Middle Eastern film was a bad fit for the position, which called for a European film specialist. Ginsberg's appeal contended those reasons were flimsy excuses.
Her lawsuit said NCSU faculty members had encouraged her to apply for the permanent post before she showed the movie.
"Suddenly, Ginsberg fell out of favor of the committee and was not listed in either the first or the second tier, but moved to the bottom of the `reject' tier, and was not even granted an interview for the position," her appeal said.
Candidates who were ranked above her included some scholars who aren't even in the field of film studies, the appeal said.
"It is clear that several faculty members involved in thehiring process felt Dr. Ginsberg was too controversial for NCSU," said Rima Kapitan, a Chicago-based lawyer for Ginsberg.
Kapitan said Ginsberg's situation illustrates the risks academics without the protections afforded by tenure face when they speak out even in mild terms on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"There is undoubtedly a risk that professors will see Dr. Ginsberg's case as a warning against engaging students and the public about issues related to Israel and Palestine that are outside of what one hears every day in the mainstream media," Kapitan said.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement