The Institute for the Study of Academic Racism (ISAR) is an organization that monitors "changing intellectual trends in academic
racism
Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonis ...
,
biological determinism
Biological determinism, also known as genetic determinism, is the belief that human behaviour is directly controlled by an individual's genes or some component of their physiology, generally at the expense of the role of the environment, whether i ...
, and eugenics." ISAR states that in this capacity it "acts as a resource service for students, academics, journalists, legislators and civil rights activists." ISAR was founded by
Barry Mehler in 1993.
The institute maintains an online presence housed by, but independent from,
Ferris State University
Ferris State University (FSU or Ferris) is a public university with its main campus in Big Rapids, Michigan. It was founded in 1884 and became a public institution in 1950. Ferris is the ninth-largest institutions of higher education by enrol ...
.
Criticism
Proponents of
eugenics
Eugenics ( ; ) is a fringe set of beliefs and practices that aim to improve the genetic quality of a human population. Historically, eugenicists have attempted to alter human gene pools by excluding people and groups judged to be inferior o ...
such as the late
Glayde Whitney
Glayde D. Whitney (1939 – 8 January 2002) was an American behavioral geneticist and psychologist. He was professor at Florida State University. Beyond his work into the genetics of sensory system function in mice, in his later life he supporte ...
accused Mehler of using what they perceive as "inquisition-like" tactics in order to discredit controversial scientists such as
Raymond Cattell
Raymond Bernard Cattell (20 March 1905 – 2 February 1998) was a British-American psychologist, known for his psychometric research into intrapersonal psychological structure.Gillis, J. (2014). ''Psychology's Secret Genius: The Lives and Works ...
and
Richard Lynn
Richard Lynn (born 20 February 1930) is a controversial English psychologist and author. He is a former professor emeritus of psychology at Ulster University, having had the title withdrawn by the university in 2018. He is former assistant edit ...
on what they considered to be nonscientific grounds. Whitney stated that Mehler combats those he accuses of racism primarily through popular rather than scientific channels (for example TV programs, such as ''
Geraldo'').
References
Further reading
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External links
Institute for the Study of Academic Racism- Archived February 17, 2017
{{DEFAULTSORT:Institute For The Study Of Academic Racism
Racism
Race and intelligence controversy
Non-profit organizations based in the United States