The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) uncovered this gem of news via Iran’s official televised news outlet, PressTV. According to the video, three American college professors offered their expertise in collective agitation. A quick look at official biographies suggest that they’ve been waiting a long time for a movement such as Occupy Wall Street to legitimize their core ideals.
Alex Vitale (Sociology, Brooklynn College) “served on the staff of the San Francisco Coalition on Homelessness from 1990 to 1993, heading up its work on developing and preserving health care and social services programs, and defending the civil rights of people living on the streets and in shelters.”
Heather D. Gautney (Sociology, Fordham University) “is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Fordham University, Lincoln Center. She has authored books and articles on politics and a variety of social movements, including Occupy Wall Street, the Alternative Globalization Movement, the Anti-Iraq War Movement, and the World Social Forum. Current research projects include (1) Occupy Wall Street, and (2) current economic trends in the film industry and their implications for the future of labor market regulation in entertainment and beyond.”
John Hammond (Sociology, Hunter College) “received his B.A. in History from Harvard College and his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Chicago. He is the author of Fighting to Learn: Popular Education and Guerrilla War in El Salvador; Building Popular Power: Workers’ and Neighborhood Movements in the Portuguese Revolution; and The Politics of Benevolence: Revival Religion and American Voting Behavior. His current research is on human rights and rural social movements in Latin America and the World Social Forum. He teaches courses on Sociology of Work, American Society, Human Rights, Development and Globalization, and Latin American Societies.”
