By Sahar Dadjoo

MIT's rejection of a Palestine linguistics course reflects political pressure on academic freedom

Michel DeGraff says the university’s decision aimed to silence knowledge about Palestine, not question his qualifications or course content.

TEHRAN – Michel DeGraff, a Haitian-born linguist and professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has spent three decades examining the relationship between language, power and social justice. His academic work focuses on how language can reinforce social hierarchies and systems of domination, as well as how mother tongues can become instruments of resistance and liberation. His latest book, Our Own Language: Harnessing the Power of Kreyòl and Other Mother Tongues for Education and Liberation, explores these themes through the experience of Haitian Creole and other minoritized languages.