[Frameworks] Saul Levine & MassArt: resources

[John Muse]

Hi, Scott.  Cryptic!  I’m sure the situation is more complicated than we know, and am here only sharing information as I find it.  The only counter narrative I’ve discovered so far is the one published in the Boston Globe:

> Kim Keown, a former MassArt student who said she first saw the film years ago with no warning about its graphic content, said cautionary notice is the critical issue.
> 
> “Saul has bullied and abused other faculty and staff at MassArt for years,” said Keown, who now works as a studio manager in the school’s film area. “I have nothing against the film or this kind of artwork being made or shown, but with [no] warning [it] can make one uncomfortable and unsafe. I was his student; and I did not speak out. If I had, back then, I would have been ridiculed.”


See https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/03/31/massart-professor-says-school-ousted-him-after-student-complaints/rY0bKt12T1DrhJZ8ocYKJP/story.html

I see two issues that are entangled: 1., Title IX and due process, which is worthy of serious exploration, and according to Saul’s report is at issue here.  And 2. changing standards for “good” vs. “bad” provocation, which you gloss with "things that seemed passionate and committed to one generation now seeming outrageous to another.”

I’m equally interested in how both matters play out in this case.  But my emotions are all on Saul’s side.  Admittedly, I’m using the latter to understand the former.  For now, that seems ok, but I’ll certainly try to be cautious until I learn more.  

j



> On Apr 1, 2018, at 10:01 PM, Scott MacDonald <smacdona at hamilton.edu> wrote:
> 
> PS John,
> 
> I'm hearing (and of course this would have to be the case) that the situation with Saul and MassArt is more complicated than I'd originally understood--and I suspect that there's an element here of things that seemed passionate and committed to one generation now seeming outrageous to another.
> 
> Like, I expect, most everyone who teaches film these days, this feels like a strange and uncomfortable time (trigger warnings, etc.). It's easy for anyone to jump to conclusions. 
> 
> I don't know anything about Saul's resources, but hopefully retirement will be good to him, even if it's been reached in a painful and stressful way. 
> 
> Scott
> 
> On Sun, Apr 1, 2018 at 6:42 PM, John Muse <jmuse at sonic.net> wrote:
> Surprised that I haven’t read anything here on the recent news that Saul Levine "was pushed out of the Massachusetts College of Art and Design after administrators accused him of 'harming students' by showing his film Notes After Long Silence, 1989, to his senior thesis class.”
> 
> Here are a few resources:
> 
> Saul’s original post detailing his decision to “[retire] from MassArt,” as he says, and his reasons: https://www.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10215932754649479&id=1165322620
> 
> The Artforum article: https://www.artforum.com/news/filmmaker-saul-levine-leaves-massart-following-dispute-over-artwork-74844
> 
> Indiewire article: http://www.indiewire.com/2018/03/saul-levine-mass-art-notes-after-long-silence-1201945678/
> 
> Saul’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/saullevine
> 
> Films mentioned in the Artforum article include "Notes After a Long Silence" https://vimeo.com/73242778 and “The Big Stick / An Old Reel” https://vimeo.com/89886468
> 
> j/PrM
> 
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> 
> john muse
> visual media scholar
> haverford college
> he/him/his
> http://www.finleymuse.com
> http://www.haverford.edu/faculty/jmuse
> http://haverford.academia.edu/JohnMuse
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*************************************************

john muse
visual media scholar
haverford college
he/him/his
http://www.finleymuse.com
http://www.haverford.edu/faculty/jmuse
http://haverford.academia.edu/JohnMuse

*************************************************