Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 15, No. 254.
Centre for Computing in the Humanities, King's College London
<http://www.princeton.edu/~mccarty/humanist/>
<http://www.kcl.ac.uk/humanities/cch/humanist/>
[1] From: C Spreizer <ces63@mindspring.com> (34)
Subject: Re: 15.246 Humanist and the tragic events in the U.S.
[2] From: "Norman D. Hinton" <hinton@springnet1.com> (8)
Subject: your action in Humanist
[3] From: Patricia Galloway <galloway@gslis.utexas.edu> (10)
Subject: Re: 15.246 Humanist and the tragic events in the U.S.
--[1]------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 09:24:14 +0100
From: C Spreizer <ces63@mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: 15.246 Humanist and the tragic events in the U.S.
Dear Willard,
this is my first response to the list, and although I do believe that
Humanist should be used for the purposes it was created, I was extremely
disappointed in the reaction, or lack of reaction to, the events of
September 11.
I am sure everyone was relieved to discover that the staff of NYU who
hosted the latest conference (which I attended) were safe and sound.
Email was the only method of getting out information to loved ones in
the immediate aftermath, since phone lines were overburdened, and
electronic information did indeed bring great relief to the majority of
recipients.
But unless I missed something, Humanist neglected to make any kind of
general statement expressing sympathy for the tens of thousands of
citizens of New York and Washington directly affected by events. Other
lists did respond with some kind of general statement expressing
sympathy with the victims of the attacks, no matter what the stated
purpose of the list was. But not Humanist.
I also found the statements of Jerry McGann bizarre on some level -- is
he really more paranoid that his message will be read by some secret
police force worming its way into an academic discussion rather than the
actions of such terrorists who delight in killing for the sake of
killing?
You write that "I posted McGann's because I thought it important to
signal that humanities computing is not unrelated to our common humanity
(and inhumanity), that as with everything else we do, what we do has a
socio-political context. His was just right for the purpose." But your
reactions to the disaster show that you missed the context completely
and responded instead on a very limited and selective personal level.
There is a difference between the desire to deepen opportunities for
thought and having one's head buried in the sand.
Sincerely,
Christa Spreizer
spreizer@qc.edu
Queens College/CUNY
--[2]------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 09:25:22 +0100
From: "Norman D. Hinton" <hinton@springnet1.com>
Subject: your action in Humanist
Good for you, Willard -- discussion of the terrorist attack has screwed
up several other lists, especially Ansax and Mediev-l, where people are
going off in all sorts of directions despite pleas from various folk to
get back to business.
No one, it seems. can withstand the temptation to answer notes on the
subject, either with good sense or with flames. (I fell for it a
couple of times before I firmly decided to keep out no matter what)
It's sort of "thoughts that lie too deep for tears", I fear.
Thanks again.
--[3]------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001 09:25:42 +0100
From: Patricia Galloway <galloway@gslis.utexas.edu>
Subject: Re: 15.246 Humanist and the tragic events in the U.S.
Willard,
Just personally, let me tell you how grateful I am for your hand on the
tiller. I had dropped off Humanist in a move, and just rejoined to hear
a voice of sanity when I was sorrowfully forced to leave the Archives
and Archivist list because of a vicious political flame war that erupted
last week. Since there was no moderator, there was no way to stop it. I
wasn't the only one who left, and in returning to Humanist I wasn't
disappointed. This is my personal support for this forum as it is, since
its thoughtful discussions strengthen our whole purpose.
Pat Galloway
University of Texas-Austin
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