Dennis Dalton

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From 1989 through 1994, Dennis Gilmore Dalton was the Ann Whitney Olin Professor of Political Science at Barnard College, Columbia University where he received tenure after two years.

Dalton holds the Ph.D., University of London, 1965, M.A., University of Chicago, 1962, and B.A., Rutgers University, 1960. ^[1]

Publicly, he is regarded as one of the well-respected authorities on Mahatma Gandhi; at Columbia, he is also known as a legendary teacher, whose lectures are filled with vitality and condensed wisdom. Campus lore has it that the New York City Fire Department would show up at the beginning of the semester to clear out the unregistered students crowding the back of the lecture hall to the point of creating a fire hazard. ^[2] He began teaching at Barnard since 1969, and had a reputation for holding back no tears when the discussion got emotional.

He received his bachelor’s degree from Rutgers University, his M.A.(in Political Science) from the University of Chicago, and finally his Ph.D. in political theory from the University of London. During lectures at Barnard, he mentioned spending time studying by Karl Marx's grave while he was at the University of London.

Joining a student hunger strike advocating a more multi-cultural curriculum, Dalton told a reporter, "I want the core curriculum supplemented by writings on Gandhi, King, Malcolm X. I want a change. I have been arguing with the people in the administration since 1969 about this and have been met by indifference. I would like some acknowledgment of non-violence in the Core." ^[3]

Dalton taught that unarmed, passive resistance is the sovereign answer to the use of force. In recent years students puzzled by Dalton's ideas approached him after class to ask what happens when the group employing violence has no compunctions about mass slaughter of unarmed people. Dalton knew what kind of groups they were asking about. He got the question so regularly that he had a system in place, a small, outside of class discussion group where students could talk about the political response to implacable enemies. His popular course, meanwhile, remained ideologically pure. Political violence could always be defeated by passive, civil resistance. Every threat can be met and bested with direct non-violent confrontation. Neoconservatives at Campus Watch, who promote unilateral military action to solve conflicts, have criticized Dalton's non violent approach in dealing with Hamas, Hezbollah and Al Qaeda.^[4]

Professor Dalton is the author of numerous articles and books, including "Mahatma Gandhi: Nonviolent Power in Action" and "Indian Idea of Freedom."

1 Books
2 Awards
3 External links
4 References

[edit] Books

Indian Idea of Freedom: Political Thought of Swami Vivekananda, Aurobindo Ghose, Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore , The Academic Press, 1982

Mahatma Gandhi: Nonviolent Power in Action , Columbia University Press, 1993

[edit] Awards

Senior Fulbright Scholarship for Research and Teaching in Nepal, 1994-95
Ann Whitney Olin Senior Award for Teaching and Research, 1989-94
Emily Gregory Award for Distinguished Teaching, Barnard College, 1978
American Council of Learned Societies grant for research in South Africa, August 1975
American Philosophical Institute grant for research in India, January-July 1975
American Council of Learned Societies grant for research at the India Office Library, London, England, June-August 1972