The ethics of academic boycotts
Dean of the University of Kansas Libraries, Lorraine Haricombe
Physicist Stephen Hawking gets a lot of credit for understanding some of the most confounding mysteries of the universe. But he's not getting the same credit from some for his understanding of the Middle East.
Last week, Mr. Hawking snubbed a June conference called The Israeli Presidential Conference sponsored by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem citing his opposition of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians. It's a decision that's met with praise and condemnation.
While organizers of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural boycott of Israel say this is a watershed moment for their cause, critics say Stephen Hawking's support of the boycott is an affront to academic freedom.
The debate on the value and ethics of academic boycotts is part of our project Line In The Sand: Dilemmas That Define Us.
Lorraine Haricombe is the Dean of the University of Kansas Libraries. She is South African and the co-author of Out in the Cold: Academic Boycotts and the Isolation of South Africa. She joined us from Lawrence, Kansas.
Professor at Kellogg College of the University of Oxford, Michael Yudkin
Our next guest believes there are only rare times and reasons for academic boycotts. And he thinks this isn't one of them.
Michael Yudkin is a professor of biochemistry at Kellogg College of the University of Oxford. He joined us from Oxford, England.
This segment was produced by The Current's Josh Bloch.
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Last Word - Christy Clark's acceptance speech
As you've been hearing in the news, last night the B.C. Liberals pulled off a political coup. They won a fourth consecutive majority government over the New Democratic Party that had been leading heavily in the polls.
Premier Christy Clark's Liberals took fifty seats, with the NDP taking thirty three and the Green party winning its first ever seat.
However Premier Clark's own seat in Vancouver-Point Grey was lost to the NDP's David Eby.
We ended the program today with some of Premier Clark's acceptance speech.
Other segments from today's show: