At the risk of being accused of "censoring" the academy, I thought I'd point out that Steven Walt and Juan Cole will be two of the guests as Brown University plays host to a political self-pity session disguised as an academic conference: The Study of the Middle East and Islam: Challenges after 9-11. This sounds like it'll be more of a group therapy session than any sort of serious event. Sessions include The U.S. State Dept. and the Legal Status of Scholars, Academic Publishing and “The Public” (like the quotes?) featuring Stephen Walt, Juan Cole and Lynne Withey (Norman Finkelstein's publisher), and Campus Surveillance (boogabooga!) featuring former MESA head and current Columbia Dean Lisa Anderson.

Where's Martin Kramer on the guest list? He's quite opinionated on these matters, as are a great many others. I'm thinking the conclusions are rather pre-determined, and a vigorous discussion is about the only thing not on the agenda. On second thought, maybe the person they really need is Bob Newhart:

He's big on therapy sessions.

A funny thing has happened since 9/11. "The public" no longer sits around accepting at face value the pleasant bromides of the ivory tower academic Left that tells us all to go back to sleep and let them handle things. And we're certainly not as interested in subsidizing it.

Update: Winfield Myers comments on Cole at Campus Watch: Juan Cole Strikes a Pose as Freedom's Hero, but There's More to the Story