Panel discussion held in wake of plagiarism scandal

Over two months after popular historian and writer Stephen Ambrose was accused of plagiarizing Penn History Professor Thomas Childers' work, students, faculty and community members are continuing the discussion on academic integrity.

Over 70 people gathered in Houston Hall's Hall of Flags last night for a panel discussion entitled "Ethics and Integrity in the Historical Profession: Plagiarism, Business and the Media." Panelists included Childers, History Department Chairman Jonathan Steinberg and History Professor Kathy Peiss.

In January, Ambrose was accused of using phrases and passages almost identical to those from Childers' 1995 book Wings of Morning in his own book The Wild Blue. Although Ambrose credited Childers in a footnote, he did not place quotation marks in his text.

Ambrose issued an official apology to Childers days later, but the controversy was further stirred by accusations against another well-known historian.

Doris Kearns Goodwin, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author who spoke at Penn last month as part of the Fox Leadership Series, also recently admitted to improperly citing some passages in her 1987 book The Fitzgeralds and The Kennedys.

At Tuesday evening's forum, panel members discussed academic integrity in light of these recent events and addressed the interaction between the media and historical writing.

In his remarks, Childers stressed the personal and professional injury that is inflicted when an author's work is plagiarized.

"The exchange of ideas is what this is all about... but your choice of words... that's you," Childers said. "It's your art."

Of Ambrose's plagiarism, Childers commented that it "wasn't a slip-up, this wasn't working under pressure... this was a method of doing work."

He added that when someone plagiarizes your work, it's "as if some part of you... that's suddenly gone, it's someone else's. And that's wrong."

And Peiss said that plagiarism can be interpreted in two ways -- both as a "theft of intellectual property" and "a theft of the author's identity."

"Plagiarism violates what is really a fragile web of trust and reciprocity," Peiss said.

Panelists also commented that plagiarism of ideas, as well as words, is a serious offense. They said that identifying this type of plagiarism is much more difficult.

"The issue of what constitutes plagiarism... is really a complicated one," Steinberg said, noting that the ideas that form a person's general knowledge originate from a variety of sources.

Peiss discussed the role that the media plays in shaping images of historians as celebrities, noting that accepting payments from media organizations for comments can pose an ethical issue.

Steinberg voiced similar sentiments, explaining that the media's "most important corruption of all is the feeling of being important" that can be conveyed to someone accused of plagiarism.

Childers said that he has been surprised by the amount of attention and ongoing interest the recent incidents with Ambrose and Goodwin have received on college campuses. He said he believes students have a right to be outraged if a different standard is used to judge infractions of academic integrity by established writers than for students.

Panel members agreed that within an undergraduate environment, it is difficult to enforce a general rule about how plagiarism cases should be handled, but Steinberg stressed that "due process of law" must be used.

Steinberg also commented that a "culture of fear" of completing assignments on time in a competitive academic environment, in addition to the increase in available information from the Internet, contributes to the tendency of some students to plagiarize.

After the forum, Childers said he hopes that the discussion helped students see "the great seriousness with which faculty take the issue of plagiarism." He added that when someone plagiarizes, he or she has "missed an opportunity to grow, to find something that will improve him or her."

Childers said that although he does not plan to use Ambrose's books in future years, he has kept his book Band of Brothers on the syllabus for one of his classes this semester.

"It is not an endorsement of Stephen Ambrose. It is not an endorsement of plagiarism... it is a useful book for my purposes," Childers said after the event.

He explained that using texts of an author like Ambrose provides students with the opportunity to learn about a variety of different perspectives, but does not validate plagiarism in any way.

Emily Marston, a Philadelphia area teacher who attended the discussion, said that she is "puzzled by why this is such a media event at the moment."

She added that the panelists' comments helped her see the situation in a new context.

The event was co-sponsored by the University Honor Council, the President's Office, the Provost's Office, the School of Arts and Sciences Dean's Office and the History Department.

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