Some readers have noted that they are confused trying to follow all of my reporting about University of California, Santa Barbara archaeologist Danielle Kurin, who was found by her university to have retaliated against students who reported sexual harassment by her then partner at her field site in Peru; found by the Institute for Field Research to have failed to provide a safe environment at her 2018 field school, where her then husband sexually assaults at least one student; is accused of abusing students in her classes; and other examples of misconduct.
I am currently defending a $10 million defamation suit filed against me by Kurin for simply reporting the facts of her behavior. We are now in the discovery phase, as indicated by some of the posts below. If you want to contribute to my legal defense, please use this GoFundMe link, with great thanks.
Kurin's abuse of students in her classes (Part I.)
Kurin's abuse of students in her classes (Part II.)
The 2016 Title IX findings against Kurin and her then-partner Enmanuel Gomez Choque. (February 2020.)
Sexual assault by Kurin's then-husband at her 2018 field school in Peru. IFR dissociates itself from Kurin. (March 2020.)
Kurin sues Balter for defamation (June 2020.)
More on Kurin's bogus lawsuit against the journalist who reported on her confirmed misconduct. (July 2020.)
Questions about Kurin's relationship with her ex-husband, a sexual predator over many years. (July 2020.)
UCSB turns back a flurry of Title IX complaints against Kurin on jurisdictional grounds (using a provision that was not in effect at the time.)
Intimidation of witnesses, sources, and another case of abuse of a student. (August 2020.)
Student sexually assaulted by Kurin's then-husband at the 2018 field school writes to Chancellor Yang. (August 2020.)
The UCLA Town Hall to discuss the handling of sexual assault complaints at Kurin's 2018 field school, plus related matters (August 2020)
Major lawfirm steps in to defend, pro bono, reporter falsely accused of defamation against Kurin.
Kurin v. Balter lawsuit goes into critical discovery phase.
Kurin and her attorney break their promises not to go after reporter's confidential sources. (October 2020.)
Was Danielle Kurin responsible for driving an Afghanistan vet out of archaeology? (December 2020.)
Kurin designates fired Texas A&M archaeologist as possible witness, cites cases of other abusers in her complaint against me. (January 2021.)
Is Kurin behind a trio of sock puppets trying to harass the reporter who outed her? (January 2021)
Update on Kurin's tenure process (February 2021)
Judge appoints mediator in the lawsuit, but litigation will continue (March 2021)
Defendant asks judge to sanction plaintiff for misconduct by Kurin and her attorney and dismiss the case. (June 2021.)
The Kurin v. Balter lawsuit is over, with a settlement between the parties (July 2021.)
#MeToo journalist declares settlement agreement to be null and void (Oct 2021.)
The strange case of the Montecito mudslide human remains (Oct 2021.
Still more evidence that Danielle Kurin exploited a mother's grief to try to get tenure (May 2022.)
Bones claimed by Danielle Kurin to be those of missing teenager Jack Cantin turn out not to be human, probably cow (Aug 2022.)
![A UCLA Town Hall on #MeToo and related issues in archaeology leaves more questions than it answers--but confirms that an accused harasser and bully is out of a job. [Updated Aug 3, 2020: Ran Boytner's rival field school organization gathers steam, he says]](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9vb9WCxKMJm9L_IJUbVGsEt5peGUJfeeiEVflOPOoftysV3SD4hvHrlfaJvKqlTCKcatEU4ppjuWj4mt5WnK8NCuLSRmEDS204bEjT8-AC7p6m-PObjcU8LrrhG5kMS3N6xN9FNSaDAXG/w680/IFR+wide+logo.png)
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“The success of the 2021 season is predicated on the commitment by the board, staff, principal investigators, and students alike to do their part to maintain a safe and productive environment in every field school.”
Tell that to those students already harassed and bullied by your “vetted” field school instructors.
https://youtu.be/urKBGVMw7Yg?t=401
“Then there is an academic review board, fourteen professional archaeologists that review every single proposal to ensure that this principal investigator has considered your comfort, your health, your safety, and also the educational experience as well as the research. So IFR brings together all these field projects, and gives you, the student, a guarantee that the field opportunities that are listed in IFR have been reviewed extensively and have a high quality of academic excellence as well as personal safety and comfort.”
Really, they guarantee the students’ safety, health and comfort!? Let us recap 10 things we have witnessed and learned in the last few months about this academic review board (with deep gratitude to all those who provided receipts in the pages of this blog):
1. These are the same “professional archaeologists” who knowingly and willfully APPOINTED DANIELLE KURIN AS A MEMBER OF THE IFR BOARD, despite the fact that she was under a Title IX investigation at UCSB.
2. This is the same board that also APPOINTED KURIN AS A MEMBER OF THEIR SEXUAL HARASSMENT COMMITTEE, despite the fact that she was under a Title IX investigation.
3. This is the same board that also supposedly “reviewed extensively” and then ADMITTED HER AS AN IFR “PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR”, despite the fact that she was put on an administrative leave and was not allowed to teach even in her own department.
4. This is the same board that also allowed her to CONDUCT TWO FIELD SCHOOLS AND FOUR SESSIONS in 2017 and 2018, despite the fact that she was found to have retaliated against students who complained in 2015 about sexual harassment by her husband.
5. This is the board that, after UCLA apparently refused to endorse her field school, regardless ACCREDITED THE PROGRAM through the home university of the board’s chair.
6. This is the board that also allowed the director of IFR, himself accused of sexual harassment in his Peru field school, to CONDUCT AN EVALUATION VISIT OF HER PROGRAM and directly engage with her students.
7. This is the board that, only a few days after students complained about a new wave of harassment and assault cases in the 2018 field school, PERMITTED HER TO RUN ANOTHER FIELD SESSION while she was under investigation and without alerting the incoming students, their parents or their universities.
8. This is the board that, after concluding in an internal investigation that Kurin’s husband and another archaeologist harassed students in 2018, CONCEALED THESE FINDINGS from the academic community for fear of being sued.
9. This is the board that IGNORED THEIR STUDENTS AND FIELD INSTRUCTORS multiple requests for information and clarification.
10. And these are the people who then LIED ABOUT IT, COVERED IT ALL UP, AND TRIED TO DEFLECT THE BLAME on the journalist who exposed their crimes.
THIS BOARD COULDN’T CARE LESS ABOUT THE STUDENTS’ SAFETY, HEALTH AND COMFORT. These people let the fox guard the hen-house. And because of their poor judgment time after time after time after time, STUDENTS WERE SEXUALLY ASSAULTED, HARASSED, TRAUMATIZED, BULLIED AND RETALIATED AGAINST.
They should all pay a heavy price for the gross negligence and suffering they have caused. At the very least, these people should never again be allowed to sit on boards. They should definitely not be allowed to lure more unsuspecting students into their trap.
THE NEXT VIDEO THEY SHOULD ALL APPEAR TOGETHER IN IS AN EPISODE OF FRONTLINE.