At the Modern Language Association (MLA) 2014 convention in Chicago, delegates defeated a resolution to boycott Israel akin to one proposed by the American Studies Association (ASA), which had put forward an academic boycott this past year with the public support of Stephen Hawking. At the MLA, though, the delegate convention failed to pass a resolution to support an academic boycott in a fairly close vote, as reported by Inside Higher Ed. Instead, the MLA delegates passed a resolution to ask the U.S. State Department to consider a boycott of Israel for occupying Palestinian territories. This was a far cry...