In recent weeks our colleague, Dr. Audrey Truschke, has come under attack for her public scholarship. We join the campus leaders of Rutgers-Newark in expressing our strong support for Dr. Truschke.
Dr. Truschke is a tenured associate professor in the Department of History at Rutgers-Newark who has published three critically acclaimed books and dozens of academic and popular press articles in her area of expertise. The academic enterprise can become fraught when serious scholars pursue lines of inquiry that touch controversial or sensitive topics, and Dr. Truschke’s work over the years has clearly challenged sincerely held beliefs. However, over the last few weeks, criticism of her has crossed over into vulgar slander and implied violence and now includes an “open letter” calling on the administration of Rutgers University to take disciplinary action against her for her scholarship.
Academic freedom is fundamental to the academic enterprise and high-level scholarship, and we appreciate that Dr. Truschke always has and always will offer substantive responses to commentaries on her work. We are heartened that Rutgers administration continues to affirm the importance of academic freedom for all our faculty. Personal attacks and threats of violence against scholars must never be tolerated, and Rutgers AAUP-AFT will always defend members who demonstrate the high degree of academic integrity and scholarship that Dr. Truschke has shown throughout her career.
Rutgers AAUP-AFT stands in solidarity with Professor Audrey Truschke and against the attacks on her privacy and academic freedom.