A blog maintained by a trio of European professors has become a sounding board for professors who believe they have been bullied, ganged up against, or otherwise pushed out of their jobs. "The bullying of academics follows a pattern of horrendous, Orwellian elimination rituals, often hidden from the public," the blog's introduction says. "Despite the anti-bullying policies (often token), bullying is rife across campuses, and the victims (targets) often pay a heavy price."
The blog invokes the term "mobbing." Kenneth Westhues, a sociology professor at the University of Waterloo, in Canada, has written extensively on the phenomenon, which he describes as "an impassioned, collective campaign by co-workers to exclude, punish, and humiliate a targeted worker."
The blog, which frequently cities Mr. Westhues's work, tracks cases of suspected "mobbings" on campuses across several continents. –John Gravois
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