We invite you to join us tomorrow as we continue our Great American novel series with a discussion of J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye and on Friday for a special webinar on the importance of diversity of thought on indigenous topics.

Plus, tune in next week for our next Restoring the Sciences webinar and for the virtual launch of our new report on Middle East Studies Centers!

More on our upcoming webinars:

Join NAS TOMORROW at 2 pm ET for a discussion of J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye.

“I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff—I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be.”

What makes The Catcher in the Rye a great American novel? How does Holden deal with feelings of isolation and alienation? Is he a static character, or does the ending mark a maturation of his outlook? Who influenced Salinger's writings, and who did his writings influence?

This webinar will feature Brent Cline, Associate Professor of English at Hillsdale College; Sarah Graham, Associate Professor in American Literature at the University of Leicester; and Anne Phillips, Professor of English and Associate Head of the Graduate Faculty at Kansas State University.

The discussion will be moderated by David Randall, Director of Research at the National Association of Scholars.

To learn more about the event, click here. 

Join NAS this Friday, September 30, at 3 pm ET, for "Combatting Cancel Culture: Why Diversity of Thought Still Matters on Indigenous Topics."

What are the most controversial topics in anthropology and archaeology today, and why are so many scholars afraid to discuss them? What are the consequences of expressing "forbidden perspectives" on indigenous topics in modern education, and what's at stake in these debates?

In this special webinar event, speakers will discuss issues such as land acknowledgements, residential Indian school reparations, the concept of sacred sites, and the loss of diversity in Native American narratives resulting from the decolonization movement.

The webinar will feature Frances Widdowson, a former professor at Mount Royal University who was egregiously fired for her refusal to bow down to progressive orthodoxy on topics such as residential Indian school graves; Stuart Reges, a professor at the University of Washington who is currently suing his university for demoting him due to his controversial perspectives on land acknowledgements; Matthew Garrett, a professor of history and ethnic studies at Bakersfield College who has written extensively about Native American religions and their changes; and Timothy Ives, an experienced contract archaeologist and author of Stones of Contention.

The discussion will be moderated by San Jose State University anthropology professor Elizabeth Weiss, co-author of Repatriation and Erasing the Past.

To learn more about the event, click here. 

Join NAS next Tuesday, October 4, at 3 pm ET, for the next webinar in our Restoring the Sciences webinar series: "Will Machines Rule the World?"

Is the Singularity nigh? Will our conscious selves one day be embodied in silicon? Will we one day become slaves to computing machines rather than their masters?

Not so, say Jobst Landgrebe and Barry Smith in their new book, Why Machines Will Never Rule the World: Artificial Intelligence Without Fear (Routledge, 2022). Landgrebe, a tech entrepreneur, scientist, and mathematician, and Smith, a philosopher, argue that Artificial Intelligence (AI) is entirely different from the General Intelligence (GI) of humans: the one is a logic system, while the other is a complex system of the sort that is ubiquitous in the world of living organisms. It is logically impossible for AI to develop into GI. To assume that it can is to fundamentally misunderstand the nature of GI and of the human mind. While AI will continue to develop as a powerful intellectual tool to serve humans, it will never become humans’ master.

This fourth installment in NAS's ongoing Restoring the Sciences webinar series will feature a fascinating conversation with Dr. Landgrebe and Dr. Smith about the future of AI technology.

The discussion will be moderated by J. Scott Turner, Director of the Intrusion of Diversity in the Sciences Project for the National Association of Scholars.

To learn more about the event, click here. 

Join NAS next Thursday, October 6, at 2 pm ET, for the virtual launch of our new report Hijacked: The Capture of America's Middle East Studies Centers.

In the 1950s, a constellation of philanthropic foundations, multinational corporations, interested scholars, and the U.S. government established the first Middle East Studies Centers to improve national security. But these centers quickly attracted controversy. Some were concerned with foreign influence at Georgetown's center in the 1970s. These concerns again flared post-9/11 with massive Saudi funds going to some of the most elite universities in the country. And as recently as 2019, the Department of Education accused the North Carolina Consortium of misusing federal funds to teach materials outside of the intended national security purpose.

NAS's latest report provides seven case studies on universities with Middle East/Islamic Studies centers and uncovers trends in what these centers have promoted over the past 20 years.

The virtual launch event will feature Neetu Arnold, Senior Research Associate at the National Association of Scholars and author of the report; Martin Kramer, Walter P. Stern Fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy; and Winfield Myers, Director of Academic Affairs for the Middle East Forum.

The discussion will be moderated by David Randall, Director of Research at the National Association of Scholars.

To learn more about the event, click here. 

If you can't attend the events live, you can still register to watch the recordings. All registrants will receive a follow-up email with a link to the recording shortly after each event.

If you have missed any of our past events or webinars, you may find all of our recordings here: https://www.youtube.com/user/NAScholars/videos.

I look forward to seeing you in the virtual audience!
 

Best,
Chance Layton
Director of Communications
National Association of Scholars