With fewer than three weeks remaining before the fall semester begins, more than 400 members of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) community have renewed demands for the reinstatement of Savneet Talwar. The tenured professor was abruptly placed on leave last spring after one of her class assignments referenced violence against Palestinian civilians.
Talwar teaches in SAIC’s graduate art therapy and counseling program. In April, the administration told her that a student had accused her of discrimination based on a hypothetical case study, which led the school to open an ongoing investigation.
“Professor Talwar should not be suspended and brought under investigation for mentioning Palestinians in a case study for an art therapy class,” a section of the petition says. The petition was released on July 20 by SAIC performance alumni Mary Zerkel and Michael Thomas and was co-signed by artist and alum Dread Scott. “Palestinians are real people and violence against Palestinians is a fact.”
Alongside claims of “clear censorship” and a breach of academic freedom, the petition says Talwar was denied due process through a grievance committee in connection with the complaint. It also describes her administrative leave as a “violation of American Association of University Professors (AAUP) policy that is also stated in [SAIC’s] faculty handbook.”
“I want to emphasize that the actions of the senior administration have seriously threatened academic freedom, due process, and shared governance at SAIC,” Talwar wrote in an email to Hyperallergic. She said SAIC placed her on leave in the middle of the spring semester and later canceled her scheduled summer course despite strong enrollment. Although she is listed as the instructor for two courses this fall, she said she has not been formally reinstated and has not received the annual renewal contract sent to all faculty.
