Archaeology conference shocked by professor’s Nazi salute

Professor says he thinks he should be ‘yelled at’ but not disciplined as university cancels his classes

An archaeology professor has drawn condemnation for using a Nazi salute during an online video conference.

Robert Schuyler, of the University of Pennsylvania, used the gesture during the annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA) on 6 January.

It happened after he interrupted another speaker and was asked to wait to raise his point. 

“I’m sorry, but I have freedom of speech and you’re not going to tell me it’s not the place for me to bring this up,” Prof Shuyler said when the other speaker, Liz Quinlan, tried to bring the discussion back on topic.

Video of the incident then shows Prof Schuyler raising his left hand in the salute and telling Ms Quinlan: “Sieg heil to you.”

His words were muffled slightly by a third person speaking at the same time, but Prof Schulyer admitted to The Daily Pennsylvanian, the student newspaper, that he had used them.

However, in a statement to the paper he said he did not believe he should be disciplined. He said: “I think I should be yelled at, but, again, I think there’s a very fine line between that and suddenly we’ve all lost our freedom of speech.”

In a statement at the weekend, the SHA said it had taken steps to address the incident, although it gave no specific details.

It said: "Actions have been taken internally to rectify the situation and ensure that a situation like this is addressed in a more timely manner moving forward.

“We want to restate that we take this matter very seriously. We admit that with this being our first virtual SHA conference, we are continuously learning and improving our process.”

On Tuesday The Philadephia Inquirer reported that the University of Pennsylvania had cancelled classes taught by Prof Schuyler.

Penn Museum, where Prof Schuyler is a curator, said in a statement on Twitter: "We are aware of a recent video showing a professor & curator using a Nazi expression during an online conference.

"The Penn Museum condemns this reprehensible behavior & rejects this dangerous rhetoric.”