Kevin Graham wrote:Stem, it "sounds" like Ritner doesn't like Gee because that is exactly what Dan Peterson wants people to think.
Kevin, let's be a little reasonable and stop trying to attack each other. I"m going with Ritner's words that make it sound all very suspect. I can't imagine a Yale scholar taking himself out of a committee because he doesn't think a candidate deserves a PhD from Yale or anywhere else. It makes absolutely no sense. A Yale scholar, i would imagine, would be so concerned about awarding a PhD to a candidate that doesn't deserve it, and have so much pride in his school and position, I woudl think, that he wouldn't in good consciense let it slide. And what about the committee awarding Gee a PhD even though Ritner supposedly supplied them with the factual reasons as to why he didn't deserve a PhD? Leave Peterson out of it, mr. Vendetta. It has nothing to do with him. Ritner himself has told the story that sound unbelievable to me, sans Peterson.
That was the whole point to his libel. However, like Ritner said, Gee's grades reflected no bias. Strange eh?
Huh? Ritner gave Gee good grades, but when it came time to consider whether he was a good PhD candidate he decided to recuse himself because he didn’t think Gee deserved a PhD? I don’t see how that’s reflecting anything. It sounds much more likely to me that Gee earned a PhD and Ritner for whatever reason had something against the man.
And you're right, you have no idea what it is like to go through the doctoral process. Meaning, your speculation is worthless. Ritner said it is not that unusual at all, and I think he is in a pretty good position to comment on it. The fact is Gee's "scholarship" from almost every angle, carries strong Mormon overtones. It appears clear to me he became an Egyptologist because the Church desperately needed some authority in that dept. For crying out loud he was given a job at BYU before he even finished his PhD, and there were apparently political forces at work trying to push the process along. That was the sense Ritner had, and it makes sense that it would be true. But Ritner wanted no part of it, it seems. There are quite a few LDS connections at Yale, from what I understand. They'd had at least one Mormon conference there with distinguished guest and the institute program there is quite healthy. Having Mormon clout at Yale is as unsurprising as Georgetown having Muslim clout.
Weird, somehow the story makes little sense to me, as reported by Ritner, but I have no right calling it out because I never went through the process, but you somehow have every reason to comment on it. Whatever, Kevin.
