If Mort Divine ruled the world

[Dak]

An education is supposed to prepare people to challenge conventions and structures. Well with a definition like that, how could xe be wrong?

 

[CiG]

And what a perfectly tosh response it is.

 

[Jimmy... Dead.]

someone I know in response to that article.

I agree with this. Impractical Ideologues on both sides. You can be a bit of a absolutist/idealist yourself, Mort

 

[Oblivious Maximus]

One choice bit of lunacy from that piece:

Claims of a right not to be offended have continued to arise since then, and universities have continued to privilege them. In a particularly egregious 2008 case, for instance, Indiana University–Purdue University at Indianapolis found a white student guilty of racial harassment for reading a book titled Notre Dame vs. the Klan. The book honored student opposition to the Ku Klux Klan when it marched on Notre Dame in 1924. Nonetheless, the picture of a Klan rally on the book’s cover offended at least one of the student’s co-workers (he was a janitor as well as a student), and that was enough for a guilty finding by the university’s Affirmative Action Office.

 

[CiG]

It really has gone to hell and people that dismiss it with references to white male privilege and sensationalism are not to be trusted.

 

[Einherjar86]

I found the Atlantic piece really enlightening and accurate; but I just want to say that it is far from having "gone to hell." There are nightmare cases and there are instructors who censor themselves; but the majority of students are willing to tolerate discomfort. I make my students read Neuromancer, and that book is full of potentially offensive material (and I make sure my kids know it).

 

[CiG]

When something like this personally affects you as a teacher, will you then say it's gone to hell?

I'd say it's widespread enough by now to even call it a culture within the context of higher education.

 

[CiG]

This is a subject change but I've just been thinking, if most (if not all) qualities/traits/choice biases of woman (or man) are socially programmed, as is the agreed upon position of most social activists and feminists, how can you be born with a brain that doesn't correspond with your biological birth gender?

 

[Zephyrus]

I taught a discussion-based class for two years that focused on modern day controversies and sensitive issues, and never had to deal with this problem. The worst manifestations of it were usually students simply refusing to participate in discussion.

It should be interesting when I begin teaching Latin next week, though, as I'll be teaching them ancient Roman history and culture along with the language, and that's going to present them with issues such as slavery, social stratification, and the status of women that are quite alien to how things are in our country today. It may be a challenge for me to make learning about Rome a worthwhile pursuit in spite of these differences.

 

[CiG]

It'll happen, just give it time, especially if you're dealing with sensitive, controversial, confrontational content.

Anyway, this video is hilarious.

 

[Einherjar86]

When something like this personally affects you as a teacher, will you then say it's gone to hell?

Not if it's only one student.

There are instructors who have altered their curriculum in order to avoid potential controversy. This is a problem; but it hasn't "gone to hell."

It'll happen, just give it time, especially if you're dealing with sensitive, controversial, confrontational content.

Sure, it probably will happen; but as the response that Mort posted also says, it probably would have happened anyway. The presence of a trigger happy student here or there isn't culturally ubiquitous, nor does it signify the ruination of education.

The real danger lies in instructors changing what they teach in order to avoid any risk. In all likelihood, it doesn't matter whether educators are cautious or not - there will still be students who complain about the content. We just have to be sure we aren't sacrificing critical thinking as the price of comfort.

 

[CiG]

Which is what I think is increasingly common, putting comfort before critical thinking.
Sure, gone to hell is strong language to use, I'll accept that faux pas.

But I do strongly feel that the reply Mort c+p'd is way too flippant in comparison to the reality of campus culture.

 

[Einherjar86]

The article definitely isn't "bullshit." That I agree with.

 

[Mort Divine]

I think the real issue isn't trigger warnings or even the students, but how schools operate with regards to professors in the first place. If a professor can get in trouble over the complaints of a student here or there the issue lies with administration.

Should content be censored? As long as it is being taught in proper context no. Should professors give warnings? Maybe, maybe not. Up to the individual.

However, unless repeated and consistent problems arise with a professor action should not be taken, and even then some kind of actual investigation should take place.

Professors should not fear teaching controversy, and they need administration to be behind them.

 

[CiG]

Great perspective, I fully agree.

 

[Dak]

I agree with you Mort, but that post is at odds with support for things like "feels" or "micro aggression" (redundant), etc.

 

[Serjeant Grumbles]

Micro aggression in action:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lqyd8BgsrqE

Good thing he made that shitlord pay.

 

[CiG]

He triggered him, therefore he is justified in bludgeoning that problematic asshole.

 

[Dak]

Praise be to the triggerin! montepython.jpg

 

[CiG]

I want to ask a serious question.

Let me preface this by saying that I am not a TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminist) and actually I support transgendered individuals and their right to pursue their happiness, but I'm having problems understanding how the social activist/feminist mentality of "gender is a social construct" makes sense within the context of a world wherein an individual born biologically male (I've heard people claim biological gender is also a social construct) can simultaneously be born with a female brain to phrase it simplistically, and vice versa.

How does this make sense? Does this not contradict that theory, of gender being a social construct?