Humanities and social-science professors are fond of exposing the political and economic interests of organizations and persons in the public sphere who make some claim to neutrality in their work. They ought to spend more time looking closer to home. I remember a while back when a group at Emory University planned a symposium on “the humanities in an age of terror” (or something like that) and I suggested a talk on how much universities have prospered from the Homeland Security programs. No go.

Here’s a piece from the Los Angeles Times on a similar topic, conflicts of interest among campus denizens with ties to business.