- Nicholas Winset
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Nicholas Wolf Winset (born July 14, 1970, in Miami) is an American polymath best known for media attention following his controversial termination from Emmanuel College in 2007.
Contents
Background and education
Winset, a descendent of French Jews fleeing the Holocaust, was raised in the Caribbean and Miami, Florida, where he attended the Vineyard School in Silver Bluff Estates and Ransom Everglades School in Coconut Grove. He earned bachelor’s degrees in History, Business Administration, and Civil Engineering, as well as graduate degrees and certificates in Finance and Accounting. He is currently pursuing a doctorate in Energy Economics.[citation needed]
Controversy
After the Virginia Tech massacre, Winset received media attention after posting a series of videos on YouTube discussing his termination from Emmanuel College in Boston. He was terminated for a controversial discussion about the massacre with his class that included the professor and a student pointing magic markers at each other and saying "bang". After talking about non-violent points of view and philosophies, which Winset explicitly stated he agreed with (such as Tibetan Buddhism), Winset then used a prop alleging violence can paradoxically be used to stop violence. Following disclaimer and agreement to participate by the class, this was a segue into a larger discussion and assignment analyzing the almost non-existent effects of the shooting on the stock market and on education-related securities.[1][2]
The administration stated that they fired Winset after "students and parents . . . contact(ed) the administration with complaints." The professor and his supporters saw "his dismissal as a violation of academic freedom and an example of the way colleges may overreact to a nationally traumatic event." Winset said "it was abysmal at Emmanuel if an adjunct can be fired without a hearing based on saying some unpopular things one day in class. The whole point of tenure and free speech is to protect speech that is unpopular. If it is popular speech, you don't need to protect it." At that time, Winset did not have tenure, however, and had only been teaching at Emmanual for three weeks before being terminated. The college had neither interviewed nor talked to Winset prior to their decision, and had not held a formal public hearing regarding his termination.[3]
The college issued a statement shortly after the videos were posted to YouTube denying that the termination was related to academic freedom. The statement went on say that Winset had violated the schools standards of conduct and civility and characterized the professor's actions as discriminatory.[4]
Creative works
Amongst various articles and essays, in the mid-90s Winset developed the comic strip “The Incredible Dreamworld of . . .”, which was produced in a variety of media and forms. In addition to print, this may have included graffiti and guerrilla art similar to Banksy’s work. The strip’s main characters were “furries” along with students and faculty at a mythical “York Polytechic Institute” inspired by WPI, where Winset attended in Civil Engineering.[citation needed]
References
- ^ Simpson, April (April 23, 2007). "Fired Emmanuel College professor fights back - Was dismissed after lecture on shooting". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/04/23/fired_emmanuel_college_professor_fights_back/.
- ^ Steiner, Emil (April 24, 2007). "Emmanuel Prof Fired For "Discussing" Virginia Tech Shooting". Washington Post. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/offbeat/2007/04/emmanuel_prof_fired_for_virgin.html.
- ^ Jaschik, Scott (April 24, 2007). "Freedom to Discuss Virginia Tech?". Inside Higher Ed. http://insidehighered.com/news/2007/04/24/winset.
- ^ Ross, Casey (April 24, 2007). "Newton professor canned by college". The Daily News Tribune. http://www.dailynewstribune.com/archive/x1078495981.
External links
Categories:- 1970 births
- American educators
- Living people
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