Prof. Gordon Fellman (SOC) refuted accusations made in an article posted this summer at Frontpagemag.com-a political commentary Web site run by the conservative pundit David Horowitz-accusing him of indoctrinating students to share his alleged disdain for America and that he grades based on an individual's political views.Fellman said the article is "entirely inaccurate" and questioned the sources used by Thomas Ryan, the author of the article, "Leftist War Studies at Brandeis." He also asked why Ryan did not contact him for comment or quote any students to support his claims.

Ryan also made accusations against the Peace, Conflict and Coexistence Studies program at Brandeis, which Fellman chairs. Horowitz, in a controversial appearance here last March, derided the program, among several other parts of the University's curriculum, as an exercise in left-wing extremism.

"Peace Studies has become a favorite venue for U.S.-hating Marxist professors like Fellman to indoctrinate students with a leftist, anti-American ideology that embraces Islamic terrorists and encourages mass civil disobedience against the U.S. government," Ryan wrote.

Fellman said he loves the United States and that the statement is libelous. He said he is not a Marxist and teaching is not indoctrination, since students may decide whether to share his beliefs. He also said he "loathes all terrorists" and that he does not know how to teach civil disobedience.

Ryan wrote that the stated objective of Peace Studies at Brandeis is to address conflicts and honor integrity- except in cases where America is involved. Fellman said that while he may question the Bush administration's integrity, the government is only part of America.

Ryan also wrote that peace studies at Brandeis is "espousing anti-American rhetoric, assigning anti-Western reading material and encouraging its students to participate in anti-American activities."

Fellman said that Ryan-who did not return calls to the Justice for comment but did reveal some of his sources-is obligated to cite anti-American books he assigns to back up such claims. He challenged Ryan to find one such book in an interview with the Justice.

"If he means books critical of American policy, sure," Fellman said. "But that's not anti-American."

Horowitz also did not return calls for comment.

According to Fellman, he has never encouraged anybody to participate in anti-American activities. He said if Ryan implies this includes his opposition to the Vietnam War, then John Kerry is also anti-American.

Fellman said he accuses Ryan of taking a quote from one of his articles, "September 11 and the Field of Peace Studies," out of context.

"In addition, Fellman justifies suicide-bombings as 'ways of inflicting revenge on an enemy that seems unable or unwilling to respond to rational pleas for discussion and justice,'" Ryan wrote.

Fellman said he was only giving one plausible explanation for why some Palestinians turn to violence, not justifying their actions.

His full paragraph reads: "Many Palestinian terrorists appear to feel hopeless to affect the Israeli degradation they experience, to find themselves at dead ends with no perceived ways out in their personal lives, and to consider suicide bombings as ways of inflicting revenge on an enemy that seems unable or unwilling to respond to rational pleas for discussion and justice."

Ryan used a quotation from a March 18, 2003 article in the Justice titled, "Brandeis divided over impending war against Iraq," without attributing it to the newspaper.

"This war has been planned since before Bush became president," Ryan quoted from Fellman in the Justice. "It sets a horribly dangerous example of pre-emptive war. It is consistent with Bush's violation of all international treaties," he also quoted, adding that Fellman equates Bush with Hussein for ignoring the United Nations.

Fellman said he does not support Bush, but he does not equate him with Hussein. He said he was only trying to show that both men ignored the United Nations.

"It's a true statement," Fellman said. "But Ryan is ridiculing that, as if somehow 'don't be silly, how could Bush ignore the United Nations.'"

Ryan also writes that Fellman has made his war on terror a "campus-wide phenomenon," accusing him of attending rallies and creating a faculty coalition against the war. But Fellman said he is not against the war on terror, only how it is being conducted. He also said he never knew a coalition existed and questioned Ryan for not attributing his sources.

Ryan also writes that Fellman uses his classroom as "his own anti-American platform." In response, Fellman said the statement equates criticizing the government with anti-Americanism.

"To me, patriotism includes criticizing the government," Fellman said.

According to Ryan, Fellman is also "notorious" for grading his students subjectively and counting their "personal evolution" as one-third of a student's grade. Ryan did not include students or sources to support this claim.

Fellman's "Marx and Freud" course syllabus was included in the sources which Ryan provided to the Justice. The section under how the course is graded states, "the premium is on understanding and working with the concepts and readings and on thinking creatively with them."

But nothing is mentioned about any criterion counting for one-third of a student's grade.

Fellman said he has frequently given students A's who disagree with him entirely and D's and E's to those who completely agree with him.

"This is libelous," Fellman said. "It's totally made up."

Ryan also quotes former Activist Resource Center leader Jocelyn Berger '04 from the Jan. 1, 2003 issue of the Justice without attribution to the newspaper: "During the Vietnam era, Brandeis was a hotbed of activist activity, with the national student strike headquartered in Professor Gordie Fellman's Office."

Fellman said students used all of Pearlman, not just his office, for organizing political demonstrations.

"Now this is simply wrong," Fellman said of Ryan's assertion. "Everything had something in it."

Edgar Ndjatou '06 took Fellman's "Social Class and Social Change" course last year. While he said Fellman did not teach students to hate America, he said the course was one-sided.

"It may seem like he's preaching a sermon and he's trying to make us buy into what he is trying to teach," Ndjatou said. "Now, is that right? That's debatable."

Ndjatou, who considers himself moderately left on most issues, said he respects Fellman and that it is important to understand different views.

Ndjatou said while he does not think Fellman sympathizes with terrorists, his strong leftist views may make some question the possibility.

But many students said Ryan's article is entirely fabricated. Joshua Russell '05, who has taken two of Fellman's courses, said he thought the article was a "joke."

"Prof. Fellman teaches about subverting the impulse to use violence," Russell said. "I don't understand how anyone could possibly equate that with endorsing terrorism."

According to Russell, Fellman makes it clear from the onset that students do not need to share his ideas to do well in any of his courses.

Russell also said Ryan makes no valid claims of indoctrination and that the article assumes all students lack the ability to form their own decisions.

Albert Cahn '07 took Fellman's "War and Possibilities of Peace" course last year. While he considers himself a liberal, he said Fellman is even father left.

Cahn said he is glad that Fellman challenged his assumptions and confronted him with distressing material.

"[Fellman] makes his political views known, but he prevents them from stifling others' beliefs," Cahn said. "He wants students to challenge him."

According to Prof. Jacob Cohen (AMST), who said he has different political views from Fellman, the article was improper-journalistically and ethically.

Cohen also said it was an unfair implication that peace studies at Brandeis advocates terrorism.

"And in that [respect] I want to express my support for Gordie Fellman."

Cohen said he believes Brandeis is respectful of serious discussion from different views. He said he has participated in discussions with Fellman and found him to be a vigorous debater- something to want and respect at a University.

The current Student Union course evaluation guide, available online, summarizes student input at the end of each semester.

"Students found the readings and videos very valuable because they showed different perspectives on material," the evaluation for Fellman's "War and Possibilities of Peace" course read. "Due to the perspectives, class discussions were great. The conversations were in depth and had many sides and opinions.