Denis Rancourt
Join us for a presentation and discussion with Denis Rancourt.
Carleton University
Wednesday January 28, 2009
Screening begins 19h00
Venue: (ME) Mackenzie 3235 (http://www2.carleton.ca/campus/)
Short Film - James Hendricks of Talk Ottawa Interview with Denis Rancourt
Join us as we host the controversial University of Ottawa Physics professor and internationally recognized academic freedom activist Denis Rancourt.
Denis will be joining us at a critical moment of his ongoing battle with the administration of the University of Ottawa. Below you will find a letter written by Claude Lamontagne (co-organizer of the weekly Cinema Academica film series at UofO) explaining the current situation and asking for letters of support that may be used during professor Rancourt's defence. As of this moment Denis is completely barred from the University of Ottawa, suspended awaiting dismissal and removed from his graduate students and research lab.
Denis Rancourt:
Denis Rancourt is a professor of Physics at the University of Ottawa. While a recognized expert in a number of scientific fields, he is particularly known for his unconventional and controversial pedagogical approach and activism directed at the hierarchical structure of universities. As a result of his many disputes with the administration at the university, he was removed from all teaching duties as of the fall of 2008. In November, moreover, he was barred from accessing his research laboratory on campus indefinitely.
Heavily influenced by the works of Freire and Schmidt, Rancourt has strongly argued for critical pedagogy aimed at confronting all sources of oppression. The key components of his particular approach have included: no grades (pass/fail systems), student-directed learning (via breakout groups where students decide what to investigate), anti-disciplinarity (by ensuring diverse topics are linked to each other, such as the connection between physics and war), and community inclusion (to allow students to learn from those outside the university and vice versa).
Rancourt has stated that the tenure-granting process is designed to produce obedient academics that question and challenge neither the fundamental sources of oppression in society nor the undemocratic governance structures of the universities they are employed in. He has argued that professors must use the unique privileges and protections offered by tenure to confront injustices and oppression, including within their universities, where they have the greatest influence and ability to effect change.
In the fall of 2005, Rancourt decided to “squat” a first year course (Physics and the Environment - PHY 1703) that had been assigned to him. In his words: “This may have been the first example of overt academic squatting, where one openly takes an existing course and does with it something different.” Instead of following the standard curriculum for the course, Rancourt decided to use the course as an experiment for new pedagogical methods, including no grades and student-directed learning. He has stated that the decision to squat PHY 1703 was “[i]n response to twenty years of observing classes that both delivered soulless material and served mainly to prepare students to be obedient and indoctrinated employees...”
Following the conclusion of PHY 1703 at the end of 2005, Rancourt and a large number of student supporters began a campaign to have the university approve a new Science faculty course that would be officially advertised as a pass/fail, student-directed course. The approval process – which spanned nine months and involved 16 committees - was significant both for its relative difficulty (i.e., length and number of committees involved) and the fact that it was heavily driven by undergraduate students. The course was officially approved in a special senate meeting in the summer of 2006 as SCI 1101, Science in Society. Although it would be offered by the Faculty of Science, the course would not count as a science credit for students.
Rancourt has been hosting the Cinema Politica film series on campus since 2005. In 2008, however, the university denied use of university facilities for the film series. In the previous year, a deaf student had filed a human rights complaint against the University of Ottawa for refusing to pay the cost of sign language interpretation during Cinema Politica events. The University of Ottawa claimed that since the event is not a part of Rancourt's officially assigned workload, he should pay for the costs of the sign language interpreter. Rancourt has contested this position and appeared before the Ontario Human Rights Commission in September 2008 to make his case that Cinema Politica should be recognized as part of his official workload.
Despite the university ban, Rancourt is still hosting the Cinema Politica event - now renamed Cinema Academica - at MacDonald Hall at the University of Ottawa. Rancourt petitioned and received the help of another professor, Claude Lamontagne of the Department of Psychology, to help him with the event and book the room, which allowed the event to continue on campus.
For more information on professor Rancourt and a more comprehensive account of his conflict with the University of Ottawa please consult:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denis_Rancourt
http://www.culturemagazine.ca/content/view/332/56/
To view professor Rancourt's interview with James Hendricks from Talk Ottawa click here: http://uofofreedom.blogspot.com/2008/11/academic-freedom-or-agitation.ht...
To visit professor Rancourt's website(s) click here:
http://academicfreedom.ca/
http://activistteacher.blogspot.com/
http://climateguy.blogspot.com/
http://uofowatch.blogspot.com/
Dear OCP-uCA patron:
I write to inform you of some disturbing developments at the University of Ottawa and to ask you to intervene in some way (as suggested below, REQUEST).
Physics professor Denis Rancourt has been suspended awaiting dismissal, barred from campus, removed from his graduate students, and escorted off campus by university police, for having attributed all A+’s in one physics course 8 months ago.
The suspension and move for dismissal came during the December break at a meeting with the upper administration, with campus police waiting at the door to expel Denis from campus grounds.
While Denis’ pedagogical innovations are rejected by the university, the grading question is only the latest pretext to attempt to silence Denis. The university’s actions are blatantly political (see background information below) and are intended to remove a vocal critic of the university administration, a dissident, and a practitioner of democracy in university governance.
Following the high grades, Denis was removed from all teaching in May, including his popular activism course which uses only pass-fail grading. In July he was barred from reserving rooms for public events (the weekly Cinema Politica series). In September his undergraduate research student Marc Kelly was unilaterally deregistered by the university. In November
Rancourt and his graduate students and employees were expelled and locked out of his laboratory without warning or explanation.
Fortunately, following the lab lockout, the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) announced that it would run an Independent Committee of Inquiry (ICOI) into the ongoing disputes between Denis and the university. The CAUT considers this to be a major academic freedom case in Canada and has only ever run a handful of ICOIs in its history.
The ongoing broad public battle is one that is helping to define the societal role of universities, at a time when Canada is joining the American geo-political project.
The next steps in the official procedure to dismiss Denis are as follows. On January 5th Denis will submit a letter of disagreement with the university plan to fire him. He then has 20 working days to submit a legal brief presenting his case to the Board of Governors. Following this a required meeting for possible resolution is scheduled within a month or so. Following an unsuccessful meeting, the case goes to the Executive Committee of the Board of Governors (EBOG) for a final decision at its next monthly meeting. The EBOG decision must be approved by President Allan Rock.
A core support committee for Denis and in defence of education has been formed that I chair.
REQUEST: Please write an individual letter to President Allan Rock* expressing your disapproval of the university’s plans to fire Denis Rancourt:
Allan Rock
President’s Office
University of Ottawa
550 Cumberland Street
Ottawa, ON, K1N 6N5
FAX: 613-562-5103
E-MAIL: allan.rock
*Include me in cc (at claude.cde
Your letter might contain some or all of the following elements:
- a personal report on Professor Rancourt’s contributions that you have witnessed
- a protest statement of the university’s plan to fire Professor Rancourt
- a request that the Board of Governors hold a public meeting on the question
- a request that you meet Allan Rock in person to discuss the matter
- a request that he answer your questions or concerns
Even a short letter will have an impact when made public in this way.
I thank you in advance for your support.
Sincerely,
Claude Lamontagne, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Psychology
3M National Teaching Fellow
Chairperson, Committee for the Defence of Education
PS1:
Remember to put me in cc to your letter to Allan Rock at claude.cde
PS2:
Professor Rancourt will be interviewed again on Talk Ottawa (Rogers TV, Cable 22) January 7th, 9pm to 10pm, live call-in show.
