Friday, December 20, 2013

Will BYU Boycott Itself?

The American Studies Association has passed a resolution stating that "the American Studies Association (ASA) endorses and will honor the call of Palestinian civil society for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions." BYU is an institutional member of the ASA. It also runs the BYU Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies. Does the ASA require BYU to boycott itself? If so will BYU do so?

I generally think that academic organizations are prone to engage in this sort of stunt without bothering to think through the rationale for doing so or to spend the least bit of thought about what the consequences will be.