World-Shaker

YouTube and Context →

The headline on the YouTube video clip of Karl Walling’s lecture in May says simply: “U.S. Naval War College Professor Advocates Rape.”

As a result of some of the comments in the clip, the Naval War College placed Walling, a professor of strategy and policy, on paid administrative leave. He was told to apologize to the college, which he did. But in an interview, Walling said that he never advocated rape, and that the 3 minute, 40 second video of one part of a serious academic lecture — by leaving out the context before and after what was shown — distorted his views. To understand what he was saying, he said, requires someone to understand his pedagogy, to have heard the entire talk and to understand a little bit about Machiavelli. (If you want to read the text of the entire lecture, you can find it here.)