Chloriza Avila - Week 5 - Section A02

This week's reading, The Imperial University, focuses on the decolonization of the university. It opens with a short story that shares many parallels with the "pepper spraying events" that occurred at UC Davis. It really pushed me to think about the first week of class and the rights that are stripped from us as students. It's shocking to see that this is not only happening at UC Davis, but at other schools within the UC system as well. It's inspiring to see that students activists are standing in solidarity with one another to benefit the greater good of the students.  However, it's disheartening to see that the University constantly pushes these situations in the wrong direction rather than giving any type of space for a mutual understanding.

I found the idea of "academic freedom" to be quite interesting because I feel like this statement can be interpreted in many different forms.  In class we talked about why globalists decide to control the education system, and I feel that they intend to manipulate students by controlling their minds.  In an effort to decolonize the university we as the oppressed people should attempt to resist the urge to be brainwashed by the superior. Ethnic Studies should be valued more because it is the gateway that leads us toward liberation, and recognizes our struggles for freedom and resistance to oppression. This idea of "academic freedom" is acknowledging that as minorities, we are not given the space to thrive. This system was not built for us, but that shouldn't stop you from defeating those barriers.

Question: In class we always talk about "the privatization of the University", but what exactly does that mean and how does that affect the Asian American community specifically?

References: 

Chatterjee, P., & Maira, S. (2014). Introduction: The Imperial University: Race, war, and the nation-state. The Imperial University: Academic Repression and Scholarly Dissent, 1-50.