James Ottavio Castagnera, a well known lawyer and professor just wrote an exciting new book entitled "Al-Qaeda Goes To College." It will be available on or about April 30, 2009 and I cannot wait to read it. I know Jim and respect Jim and have previously read much of his excellent work. The Press release about the book provides:
James Ottavio Castagnera, a Philadelphia attorney and author, is publishing his 17th book in April. This volume, published by Praeger, is the first book-length treatment of how the 9/11 attacks and the American political scene afterward have affected higher education in this country. It covers topics such as: universities' roles in training counter-terrorism experts, particularly anthropologists working in Iraq and Afghanistan; bio-terrorism research on campuses; inflammatory critiques by the likes of Ward Churchill; the conspiracy theories advocated by some academics regarding 9/11; lawsuits against universities by terror victims trying to get settlements from countries like Iran by seizing archaeological artifacts in American universities; accused Islamists teaching at American colleges, like Sami al-Arian at USF.
Castagnera holds the B.A. from Franklin & Marshall College, the M.A. in Journalism from Kent State University, and the J.D. and Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University. He has spent more than 25 years practicing, writing about, and teaching law. He has been a labor lawyer and litigator with a major Philadelphia firm, Saul Ewing, and the general counsel/corporate secretary for the then-largest convenience store chain in New Jersey and for the nation's number one econometric forecasting organization. He previously has published 16 books, as well as some 50 professional/scholarly articles and book chapters. He is a frequent commentator in newsletters, newspapers, magazines, and broadcast media. His teaching has taken him to the University of Texas-Austin, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and the Widener University School of Law. He currently is legal counsel to a New Jersey university and president of a freelance research and writing company.
In May-June 2007, he was one of 45 Academic Fellows on Terrorism who, together with his editor on this book, Dr. Timothy Furnish, studied counter-terrorism techniques in Israel under the auspices of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. It was this experience, more than any other, that inspired the new book.
Castagnera resides in the Philadelphia suburb of Havertown. Advance orders for his new book are being accepted at the Greenwood Publishing Group’s Praeger website, http://www.greenwood.com/catalog/C36428.aspx
I hope to shortly get a copy of the book so I can review it.
Mitchell H. Rubinstein
http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/adjunctprofs/2009/01/up-coming-book.html
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On Jan. 23, 2009, Adjunct Prof Blog announced that James Ottavio Castagnera, a well known lawyer and professor at Rider University, just wrote an exciting new book entitled "Al-Qaeda Goes To College." Professor Castagnera was kind enough to provide me with an advance copy and I could not put it down.
The book starts off by detailing how Professor Castagnera world began to change on 9-11. It then goes on to discuss the Anthrax scare that occurred at the Hamlton New Jersey Post Office, just a few miles a way from Rider University.
The book's research is excellent and it is full of detailed footnotes that others will undoubtedly find helpful. Professor Castagnera central thesis, however, is on the impact 9-11 had on higher education. He views 9-11 as a double edge sword. On the one hand universities lost their innocence at great cost (increased governmental regulations, security costs etc.), but on the other hand universities also got a windfall because now they offer more programs and research on national security. Professor Castagnera believes that American universities have met the challenge of 9-11 and we are better off because of it. He compares 9-11 to WWII and states that America became a super power because of WWII.
The book goes on and covers such topics as universities' roles in training counter-terrorism experts, particularly anthropologists working in Iraq and Afghanistan; bio-terrorism research on campuses; inflammatory critiques by the likes of Ward Churchill; the conspiracy theories advocated by some academics regarding 9/11; lawsuits against universities by terror victims trying to get settlements from countries like Iran by seizing archaeological artifacts in American universities; accused Islamists teaching at American colleges, like Sami al-Arian at USF.
This book not only presents well researched factual information, but it also contains legal analysis. For example with respect to the discharge of Professor Ward Churchill, Professor Castagnera outlines the First Amendment rights of public employees and in particular academic freedom.
To my knowledge, this is the first book on how 9-11 has changed the world of higher education. This book will be available around April 30th and you can pre-order it now from the above link. You will be glad that you did.
http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/adjunctprofs/2009/02/book-review-h-1.html
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Excerpt: http://www.historyplace.com/specials/writers/domestic-terrorists.htm
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