26 October 2015
We, the undersigned faculty in the Department of American Studies, oppose SB 11 and especially oppose allowing guns in our classrooms, offices, dormitories, and other indoor spaces. American Studies is a field that probes the connections between American society and culture—past and present. We are committed to free, critical, and open discussion of controversial, and, at times, uncomfortable ideas around such issues as race relations, gender, sexuality, poverty and inequality, social justice, environmental crisis, political and social differences, and other aspects of our past and present society that have the potential to raise tempers or to make students, even without the possibility of guns in the room, nervous about expressing their ideas. We believe that the presence of guns in our classrooms and other indoor spaces will inhibit our ability to teach, inhibit the ability of students to learn, and, in general, provoke an atmosphere of fear and distrust, and make the campus less safe.
Signed (in alphabetical order):
Robert H. Abzug Professor
Cary Cordova Assistant Professor
Janet Davis Associate Professor
Lauren Gutterman Assistant Professor
Steven Hoelscher
Professor and Chair of American Studies
Randolph R. Lewis Professor
Stephen Marshall Associate Professor
Jeffrey L. Meikle
Stiles Professor in American Studies
Julia Mickenberg Associate Professor
Mark Smith Associate Professor
Shirley Thompson Associate Professor