tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423725371920868922.post6369428450968945233..comments2024-03-27T13:28:18.163-04:00Comments on Balter's Blog: An alleged #MeToo story told at last: Dian Hunter's account of her affair with Max Planck paleoanthropologist Jean-Jacques HublinMichael Balterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08311614050647338141noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423725371920868922.post-2135597778434336062019-01-18T18:19:13.277-05:002019-01-18T18:19:13.277-05:00Thank you for your comment. Yes, this is exactly w...Thank you for your comment. Yes, this is exactly what I heard from colleagues in Germany and elsewhere as I was reporting the story. The power of academics in Germany, and especially directors of Max Planck Institute departments, is very great and many are terrified of them--even many mid-level researchers who fear reprisals of every kind imaginable. How is this consistent with the scientific project, the search for truth, to have elites and hierarchies controlling not only the science but the very lives of scientists?Michael Balterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08311614050647338141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423725371920868922.post-18081147610844748022019-01-18T18:06:48.524-05:002019-01-18T18:06:48.524-05:00It takes a lot of courage to report Hublin. I have...It takes a lot of courage to report Hublin. I have a graduate degree in the same field but from the different German university. I know from the personal experience that reporting prominent scientist in this field in Germany can be career suicide (it is a pretty small field). They are editors of the scientific journals, book publishers, etc. <br />This is just the tip of the iceberg. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423725371920868922.post-76272251299932530272019-01-18T15:12:27.519-05:002019-01-18T15:12:27.519-05:00Thanks for your comment. I have not said too much ...Thanks for your comment. I have not said too much about "Dian Hunter" so as not to identify her. But I can say that she is a knowledgeable and dedicated prehistorian, with special expertise in Paleolithic stone tools which she says Hublin himself took a great interest in. He was also, according to Dian, supportive of her career until the relationship fell apart, and only then did he begin to demean her in this way. Dian told me early on about the financial sacrifices she made to ditch a career as a functionary in the German system and launch a new career as a prehistorian later in life.Michael Balterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08311614050647338141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3423725371920868922.post-5691250338432339312019-01-18T14:43:39.895-05:002019-01-18T14:43:39.895-05:00"Hublin, who acknowledges having an affair wi...<i>"Hublin, who acknowledges having an affair with Hunter that went on for about a year, insists that it was entirely consensual and that he is not guilty of misconduct."</i><br /><br />That alone, to me, speaks volumes - having an affair is "Misconduct". Whether he was in a position of direct authority or not doesn't really matter - Hublin has the power, pull, and finances to run roughshod over "Dian Hunter" - who he attempts to demean and insult by referring to her as a <i>"...mature woman in her 40's, only dabbling in paleoanthropology part time"</i> and as a <i>"Scientific Groupie"</i>.<br /><br />I have a strong desire to make a joke about Neanderthalic attitudes toward women, but I'll refrain.Shanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09796605725594056206noreply@blogger.com