Jim Crow on Christian Campuses

Chapter 3 highlights the continued influence of segregationist theology in evangelical circles even as explicit segregationist rhetoric began losing purchase outside that sphere in the mid-1960s. The centerpieces of this chapter are parallel narratives detailing the desegregation of Wofford College and Furman University, the respective flagship institutions of the Methodist and Baptist denominations in South Carolina. In describing the battles between school administrators who sought to desegregate their institutions and the laity of the state’s two largest denominations who resisted such measures, this chapter emphasizes white evangelicals’ continued opposition to black civil rights even as the broader southern culture was forced by the federal government to acquiesce on integration in institutions of higher education. Segregationist theology remained influential for a majority of white Baptists and Methodists who voted against desegregating the church schools in the mid-1960s and who withdrew their support when the colleges integrated against these Christians’ desires.

Disentangling the American Christian Right: An Interview with Dr. Christopher Douglas | Decifrando a direita cristã norte-americana: uma entrevista com o Prof. Dr. Christopher Douglas

Christopher Douglas is one of the most prominent scholars who has studied the rise of the conservative Christian Right in the American political arena and the links of this complex movement to American culture. Prof. Douglas taught at the University of Toronto and, for five years, at Furman University, South Carolina before transferring to University of Victoria in 2004. He teaches American literature, particularly contemporary American fiction, religion and literature, multicultural American literature, postmodernism, and the Bible as Literature. In the interview below, Prof. Douglas talks about his research and the idea behind his book “If God Meant to Interfere”, published in 2016; the explanatory concepts of Christian Multiculturalism and Christian Postmodernism; the spread of fake news, conspiracy theories, and alternative facts among Christian fundamentalists; the American political context. Prof. Douglas also offers interesting comments on the current Brazilian situation. His critical insights provide interesting and new perspectives that give fresh vitality to the debates about Christian fundamentalism. Prof. Douglas is committed to “public-scholar engagement” that is, research-based critical writings for non-academic audiences.Links to his public academic activity are inserted throughout the interview.

Person of the Issue: John B. Watson (1878-1958)

John B. Watson grew up in South Carolina. While he later described himself as a poor student, he entered Furman University at the age of 16. After graduating five years later with a master’s degree, he began studying psychology at the University of Chicago. Watson earned his Ph.D. in psychology in 1903. According to John Watson, psychology should be the science of observable behavior. “Psychology as the behaviorist views it is a purely objective experimental branch of natural science. Its theoretical goal is the prediction and control of behavior. Introspection forms no essential part of its methods, nor is the scientific value of its data dependent upon the readiness with which they lend themselves to interpretation in terms of consciousness,” he explained (1913).

Reactions of Alkenes: The RajanBabu Synthesis of Pseudopterosin G-J Aglycone Dimethyl Ether

Xiangge Zhou of Sichuan University showed (Tetrahedron Lett. 2011, 52, 318) that even the monosubstituted alkene 1 was smoothly converted to the methyl ether 2 by catalytic FeCl3. Brian C. Goess of Furman University protected (J. Org. Chem. 2011, 76, 4132) the more reactive alkene of 3 as the 9-BBN adduct, allowing selective reduction of the less reactive alkene to give, after reoxidation, the monoreduced 4. Nobukazu Taniguchi of the Fukushima Medical University added (Synlett 2011, 1308) Na p-toluenesulfinate oxidatively to 1 to give the sulfone 5. Krishnacharya G. Akamanchi of the Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai oxidized (Synlett 2011, 81) 1 directly to the bromo ketone 6. Osmium is used catalytically both to effect dihydroxylation, to prepare 8, and to mediate oxidative cleavage, as in the conversion of 7 to the dialdehyde 9. Ken-ichi Fujita of AIST Tsukuba devised (Tetrahedron Lett. 2011, 52, 3137) magnetically retrievable osmium nanoparticles that can be reused repeatedly for the dihydroxylation. B. Moon Kim of Seoul National University established (Tetrahedron Lett. 2011, 52, 1363) an extraction scheme that allowed the catalytic Os to be reused repeatedly for the oxidative cleavage. Maurizio Taddei of the Università di Siena showed (Synlett 2011, 199) that aqueous formaldehyde could be used in place of Co/H2 (syngas) for the formylation of 1 to 10. Hirohisa Ohmiya and Masaya Sawamura of Hokkaido University prepared (Org. Lett. 2011, 13, 1086) carboxylic acids (not illustrated) from alkenes using CO2. Joseph M. Ready of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center selectively arylated (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2011, 50, 2111) the homoallylic alcohol 11 to give 12. Many reactions of alkenes are initiated by hydroboration, then conversion of the resulting alkyl borane. Hiroyuki Kusama of the Tokyo Institute of Technology photolyzed (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2011, 133, 3716) 14 with 13 to give the ketone 15. William G. Ogilvie of the University of Ottawa added (Synlett 2011, 1113) the 9-BBN adduct from 1 to 16 to give 17. Professors Ohmiya and Sawamura effected (Org. Lett. 2011, 13, 482) a similar conjugate addition, not illustrated, of 9-BBN adducts to α,β-unsaturated acyl imidazoles.

Alkene and Alkyne Metathesis: Grandisol (Goess), 8-Epihalosilane (Kouklovsky/Vincent), (+)-Chinensiolide B (Hall)

The cost of using Grubbs-type catalysts could be reduced dramatically if the turnover could be improved. Richard L. Pederson of Materia found (Organic Lett. 2010, 12, 984) that in MTBE at 50°C, the ring-closing metathesis of 1 proceeded to completion in 8 hours with just 500 ppm of H2 catalyst 2. Jianhui Wang of Tianjin University constructed (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2010, 49, 4425) a modified H2 catalyst 5 tethered to a nitrobenzospiropyran. After the cyclization of 4 to 6 was run in CH2Cl2, the mixture was irradiated with visible light, converting 5 into its ionic form, which could be extracted with glycol/methanol, leaving little Ru residue in the cyclized product. In the dark, the catalyst reverted and could be extracted back into CH2Cl2 and reused. In a complementary approach, David W. Knight of Cardiff University found (Tetrahedron Lett. 2010, 51, 638) that the residual Ru after metathesis could be reduced to < 2 ppm simply by stirring the product with H2O2. Cyclopropenes such as 6 are readily available in enantiomerically pure form by the addition of diazoacetates to alkynes. Christophe Meyer and Janine Cossy of ESPCI ParisTech showed (Organic Lett. 2010, 12, 248) that with a Ti additive, G2 cyclized 7 to 8. Siegfried Blechert of the Technische Universität Berlin devised (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2010, 49, 3972) the chiral Ru catalyst 11, which converted the prochiral 9 to 12 in high ee. Daesung Lee of the University of Illinois, Chicago, explored (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2010, 132, 8840) the cyclization of the diyne 13 with 14 under G2 catalysis. Depending on the terminal substituent, the cyclization could be directed selectively to 15 or 16. Bran C. Goess of Furman University took advantage (J. Org. Chem. 2010, 75, 226) of alkyne ring-closing metathesis for the conversion of 17 to 18. Selective hydrogenation then delivered the boll weevil pheromone grandisol 19. Cyrille Kouklovsky and Guillaume Vincent of the Université de Paris Sud extended (J. Org. Chem. 2010, 75, 4333) ring-opening/ring-closing metathesis to the nitroso Diels-Alder adduct 20. Reduction led to 8-epihalosilane 22.