Petition on line-Angana Chatterji-Most anti-Hindu-must sign & Circulate

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<siaram (AT) bellsouth (DOT) net><siaram (AT) bellsouth (DOT) net>Petition on

line-Angana Chatterji-Most anti-Hindu-must sign & CirculateThu, 14 Apr

2005 21:18:38 -0400http://www.petitiononline.com/foilciis/petition.htmlTo:

President and Board of Trustees of CIISIntegral Studies or Integrity free

Studies?Dear President Joseph L. Subbiondo and the Board of Trustees:California

Institute for Integral Studies (CIIS) has been the center of political

propaganda in the name of "anthropological activism" for quite some time.

Recently CIIS has created news with faculty member Dr. Angana Chatterji

(Professor or Assistant Prof. or Assoc. Prof.?) taking credit for the US State

Department's denial of a visa to Indian State Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

This is the latest in a long line of vituperative

sensationalism, usually directed at obstructing help to the neediest segments of

the population in the poorest countries.While she may choose to pursue a role in

advocacy, as her right, one has to seriously question her ethics and her

responsibilities toward scholarship and cultures she researches in and in which

she claims to be a scholar.It is perhaps time to oblige CIIS' desperate quest

for the media limelight by examining some of their practices.Angana Chatterji's

(Professor or Assistant Prof. or Assoc. Prof.?) CIIS website claims that she is

an Associate Professor of Anthropology. However, the publications that she

lists there mostly claim to the outside world that she is a Professor of

Anthropology. It appears that at CIIS, faculty simply put on academic rank and

titles similar to kindergartners donning academic regalia, with no need for

actual promotion processes or scholarly achievement.This

interesting fashion in academic integrity comes through in the faculty

publications of CIIS as well. One reason for academic rank having to be

arrogated rather than won is obvious - the publications cited on this faculty

website are mostly articles in sensationalist newspapers of dubious

credibility. That they do not check elementary facts is evident from their

letting Chatterji inflate her credentials. Chatterji is certainly well reputed

- not in Anthropology circles, but in Anarchist, Marxist Communist party

circles and the Pakistani hate media.Comparison of the practices in the

Anthropology Department at CIIS with accepted practices published by American

Anthropologists Association (A.A.A) or Society for Applied Anthropology (SfAA)

or National Association of Practicing Anthropologists (NAPA) provides an

interesting study of CIIS standards in academic integrity. CIIS Scholars of

anthropology rarely disclose any research

goals, methodologies or sponsorship. They do not report their qualifications

accurately either in their public appearances/speeches or their

publications.Anthropology scholars are ascribed special skills in

deciphering/interpreting socio-cultural systems. None such is evident in

Chatterji's writings. The community expects scholars at a minimal level not to

promote, encourage any harm even inadvertently in their writings, speeches or

other scholarly activities. Chatterji’s conduct is a study in hate-mongering

for cash. Her writings falsify data to support false propaganda, and stereotype

entire communities as "fascists", "genocidal" etc. She indulges in blatantly

hate-inciting name-calling. She fudges the facts and misrepresents and abuses

the scholarly platform she has been accorded, as outine modus operandi.Her most

recent "success" is itself a false claim. She has been going around the nation

claiming completely false

reasons for the US State Department declining the visa application made by the

Indian government - in order to falsely claim "credit" for herself for creating

divisiveness in the Indian-American community. That this is being done through a

publication prominently advertised on the CIIS website, gives the lie to the

CIIS' claim of being a holistic center for peaceful study and

introspection.Chatterji’s funding sources are suspect. She is listed as a

Trustee of the "Earth Island Institute" which is rated as one of the least

transparent of extreme-left organizations. One wonders if the Foundation's

supporters endorse her political vendettas that obstructed the delivery of

drinking water to simple villagers in poor countries for several years.What do

the organizational culture and ethics of scholars mean to CIIS in monitoring

and self-policing? Is intellectual dishonesty, so blatant even in stating

credentials, as well as

rabble-rousing activism the top priority of CIIS? Doesn't this jeopardize the

reputation of the institution and the futures of the impressionable youngsters

who come there expecting a holistic education?Does CIIS not have a

responsibility to provide faculty who can set impeccable moral examples and

serve as agents of positive influence on their students and the broader

community? Does blatantly false hate-propaganda constitute such an example?

What does it tell students at CIIS about the worth of their degrees, when their

faculty lie about their credentials, and everything else, just for a few dollars

more of dubious sponsorship?The CIIS introduction states quite boldly"CIIS is an

engaged-and-engaging-community of people committed to transforming themselves

and the world. Here you pursue an education that connects the spiritual and

practical dimensions of intellectual life, in a stimulating environment that

fosters rigorous scholarship and supportive community. The Institute offers an

integral, interdisciplinary education—a unique intersection between theory and

practice, passion and reason. CIIS advances its mission by offering courses of

study that are on the frontiers of knowledge, taught by faculty members who are

recognized scholars and student-centered teachers".A noble mission statement,

but utterly absurd when viewed against the reality apparent on the website of

their senior faculty.The Academy is an important social institution whose

faculty are agents of moral influence to guide students and the broader

community. It is imperative that institutes and academic organizations strive

to develop a moral and ethical culture that is conducive to individual and

collective moral responsibility.Academics are perceived as scholars, seekers,

and purveyors of knowledge, thoughtful, analytical, tolerant, and respectful of

diversity; fiercely independent producers and guardians of "truth" with

insatiable curiosities about what we do not know and a critical and questioning

attitude about what we do know. Their students are impressionable youngsters

searching for careers and role models. Youngsters are also often experimenting

with a system of values, beliefs, and moral standards. One looks up to

academics as they have the persona of being autonomous and mature agents who

have a broader view and analytical approach to morality and intellectual

honesty. Thus, many academicians become influential forces in helping students

to make critical life choices.The irredeemable price of ethics failure in

academia is the loss of public trust and faith in academic organizations. Apart

from the destructive financial price, there are other non-financial aspects that

ought to be considered. First, students, parents, and community develop a poor

impression of

the institute and of faculty who are supposed to be moral agents and honest. The

lack of trust and faith in the integrity, honesty, and dedication of faculty

undermines the foundation of any attempts to achieve excellence in teaching and

training students.Lest you think we are picking on Chatterji alone, let us point

out that most of the other faculty in their Anthropology Department seem to be

different mostly in that they have almost no publications to show. Perhaps they

are at least honest enough to observe the "Do No Harm" part of their community's

ethical standards and not bask in stoking and inciting communist / terrorist

uprisings under the veneer and garb of scholarship using false

credentials.Sincerely,Citizens Insisting on Integrity in Scholarship (CIIS)Cc:

Earth Island InstituteInternational Rivers NetworkAsia Forest NetworkCommunity

Forestry InternationalMediaSincerely,The

Undersigned

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