Fwd: Re: [spectre] (fwd) Istanbul Bilgi University VCD: Sued and Sacked

[Andreas Broeckmann]

From: De wraak van Baltassar Geraards <ajaco at xs4all.nl>
Subject: Re: [spectre] (fwd) Istanbul Bilgi University VCD: Sued and Sacked
Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2011 14:30:08 +0100
Cc: "spectre at mikrolisten.de" <spectre at mikrolisten.de>,
         Ahmet Atif Akin <atifakin at gmail.com>

Do not stirr in a pot full of shit, unless you 
exactly are knowing what you are doing and be 
prepared to bear the consequences.

Do we need to feel sorry for these 'academics' 
who overruled their integrity by letting pass 
such a mundane and evident research regarding 
investigations in the porn industry as an 
academic field of interest without taken the 
necessary precautions about its discutable 
premisses as suited for an academic study in the 
field of Visual Communications and should not it 
be part of the curriculum of the Sociology or 
International Affairs faculties?

Just because of the Bologna regulations there is 
a lot of private capital invested in a bunch of 
so called universities without a properly 
established and formulated academic ground to 
build upon

Is this not an example of the happy failure of a 
neo liberal attack on academics and should not we 
be content with its failure?



Andreas Maria Jacobs

w: http://www.nictoglobe.com
w: http://burgerwaanzin.nl

On 13 Jan 2011, at 14:04, Andreas Broeckmann <ab at dortmunder-u.de> wrote:

>Subject: Istanbul Bilgi University VCD: Sued and Sacked
>From: Ahmet ATIF AKIN <atifakin at gmail.com>
>Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2011 21:06:25 +0200
>
>
>Dear Collegues,
>
>We'd like to inform you about the recent 
>developments regarding our former department and 
>the executives.
>On the 3rd of January 2011 we are sacked and 
>sued by Istanbul Bilgi University, with the 
>head of the department and the program 
>coordinator. The accusation is evaluating a 
>senior project with sexual content.
>You may follow the issue from some international press as well.
>
>http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=response-to-porn-scandal-by-istanbuls-bilgi-university-violated-academic-freedom-protesters-say-2011-01-10
>http://www.aolnews.com/tag/bilgi%20university/page/2/?rsnph=&sfanph=
>http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12142630
>http://www.tepkivecagri.com/
>http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=is-bilgi-a-8216for-profit8217-university-2011-01-11
>http://news.webindia123.com/news/articles/World/20110111/1664721.html
>http://www.spiegel.de/panorama/0,1518,738616,00.html
>
>Also university put a charge on the prosecution 
>now and now we are dealing with the legal issues 
>and lawyers not to be sentenced on legal court.
>
>Attached you will find a document with detailed 
>logs of the event and our final comments.
>Finally, also we would lie to assure you for our 
>future collaborations not under the name of 
>Bilgi but with the same people, know how and the 
>spirit.
>
>Kind regards,
>
>Prof. Dr. Ihsan Derman
>Ali Peks¸en, MA
>Ahmet Atif Akin, MSc.
>
>
>
>Dear Colleagues,
>
>We would like to inform you about the recent 
>situation at the Visual Communication Design and
>Photography and Video Departments in Istanbul Bilgi University.
>
>In the academic year of 2009-2010, one of our 
>Photography and Video students proposed a
>video project with a sexual content based on the 
>premise that amateur porn movies are often
>professional productions which simulate the look 
>of amateur, individual and/or homemade
>movies. He produced the amateur looking movie 
>with sexual content showing the backstage of
>the set at the end of the movie proving hat 
>there is professional production equipment and 
>crew
>behind it. The final project submitted was found 
>unsatisfactory in terms of conceptual statement
>and production quality, thus the student failed 
>the course. Following semester he received a
>grade D (pass on probation) and graduated on account of cumulative GPA.
>
>Six months after the student's graduation a 
>Turkish weekly magazine named Tempo published
>an interview regarding this thesis project and 
>then mass media attention followed. On the
>evening of January 2, two days after the Tempo 
>report, with the instruction of the Rectorate,
>the General Secretariat forced students and 
>academics to leave their offices in the E1 
>building
>escorted by security guards. Access to the 
>building was blocked and the university's 
>technical
>team changed the locks of all offices, 
>laboratories and studios in the building without 
>any
>consent or prior notice. No state police 
>officers were present during the university 
>officers'
>invasion. At the same time, department websites 
>and students' servers were shut down. The
>Dean's office sent an e-mail announcement that 
>the office locks had been changed and staff
>working in the E1 building may not enter the 
>building without any further explanation.
>
>On January 3rd, the Rectorate sent an e-mail to 
>the academic staff announcing that three
>instructors were dismissed from their posts 
>based on the Tempo magazine report and that a
>criminal complaint about them had been lodged 
>with the Prosecution Office . Names of the
>dismissed staff were not mentioned in the 
>e-mail. They are Prof. Dr. ?hsan Derman, Head of 
>the
>Visual Communication Design Department, Ali 
>Pek?en, Coordinator of the Photography and
>Video Program and Ahmet AtÏf AkÏn, Project 
>Course Senior Coordinator. None of the 
>instructors
>were given an explanation by the university 
>administration, nor the right to defend 
>themselves
>before or during the incident. The following 
>day, the police were involved in the situation, 
>their
>offices were searched, and computer hard drives were copied.
>
>We believe that in an academic environment, 
>research topics should not be restricted. The
>duty of an academic advisor is not to censor the 
>subject of the work but rather to assess the
>said topic within the related research field and 
>to guide the student to contextualize it. 
>Dismissal
>from university, moreover prosecution can never 
>be legitimized and excused in the context of an
>independent academic environment.
>
>Today as we are confronted with a business mind 
>not only merely disregarding academic
>careers and the personal rights of academics, 
>who invested their time and knowledge in
>hundreds of students, but also violating the 
>fundamental principles of a university founded on
>the premise of 'freedom of knowledge', we invite 
>you, as freinds and the institutional partners of
>Istanbul Bilgi University and the Visual 
>Communication Design Department to support us in 
>our
>case.
>
>It is impossible to think this occasion is 
>independent of the neo-conservative trend in our
>country. As the academia is forced to challenge 
>in between higher education council in Turkey,
>Bologna Process in Europe, and neo conservative 
>finance capitalization of Istanbul we are
>concerned to see more of these ocaasions in the near future.
>
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