This journal is mostly public because most of it contains poetry, quotations, pictures, jokes, videos, and news (medical and otherwise). If you like what you see, you are welcome to drop by, anytime. I update frequently.
I think that's really lazy and callous of U of Chicago. And ominous. Does this mean they're closing their Women's Center, LGBT center, etc, if they are forbidding safe spaces?
The "trigger warnings" concept is really misunderstood/wilfully misunderstood. It's not about avoiding ideas and concepts but about knowing about them in advance, just like being able to read the ingredients on a box of food. Fanfic has been using trigger warnings, aka content advisories, for years, to tell people what's included in stories, so that people can prepare to deal with them rather than being surprised and triggered by them. Often they act as enticements if people want to read about certain concepts!
The concept of 'triggers' is also misunderstood. It's not about things people don't like. as Wikipedia puts it, "A trauma trigger is an experience that causes someone to recall a previous traumatic memory, although the trigger itself need not be frightening or traumatic and can be indirectly or superficially reminiscent an earlier traumatic incident."
Here's an example from my life: I really love the book Huckleberry Finn. Have you read it? It features frequent use of a certain slur for Black people. When he assigned the book, my instructor told us the book features this word and that we would discuss its use. This wasn't about avoiding it, and no one told him not to teach it: this was preparing us beforehand. As a Black girl I really appreciated the advance warning rather than stumbling on this slur and being shocked and hurt.
The U of Chicago's policy also assumes that students emerge from a vacuum. A student who has been sexually assaulted before they came to college may appreciate knowing ahead of time that a book or a lecture in a course will deal with that topic, not as a way to avoid the topic but as a way to be prepared. U of Chicago has just declared that they will not provide any such advance warning and that their only response to any distress or pause a student may experience will be academic penalties. I think that's wrong of them, and actively inimical to learning.
Thank you for sharing your detailed perspective. I did wonder at their opposition to "trigger warnings" and "safe spaces"...we'll see how all this plays out, I suppose.
In NZ, I was rather shocked to see very racy ads for condoms around the campus. I am sure people from more conservative cultures would find them seriously shocking. Should they stop advertising?
Then there are ads for an LGBT parade. Some people find those parades disturbing. Should they stop having parades?
I believe, one of the US universities forbade Halloween celebrations because they disturb some people. And then, of course, there are scientific ideas such as evolution and Big Bang which potentially offend the religious people.
Everybody is potentially offended by something else. I agree that the University is not there to make you feel safe, it is there to make you think. Thinking is rarely safe.
Books are funny. Read in one of the LJ-communities, a book review. The protagonist was a good person even though he owned slaves. Morals change. Books should be understood and accepted within their timeframe. I remember I could not understand why Juliet could not simply run away to her Romeo without all the theatrics. Then somebody explained to me that she wanted her father's blessing. Go figure...
Yes, the slippery slope is a consideration...we'll see, I suspect more details will be forthcoming, I will be curious to see what happens as the school year progresses.
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Comments
I have opinions on this.
The "trigger warnings" concept is really misunderstood/wilfully misunderstood. It's not about avoiding ideas and concepts but about knowing about them in advance, just like being able to read the ingredients on a box of food. Fanfic has been using trigger warnings, aka content advisories, for years, to tell people what's included in stories, so that people can prepare to deal with them rather than being surprised and triggered by them. Often they act as enticements if people want to read about certain concepts!
The concept of 'triggers' is also misunderstood. It's not about things people don't like. as Wikipedia puts it, "A trauma trigger is an experience that causes someone to recall a previous traumatic memory, although the trigger itself need not be frightening or traumatic and can be indirectly or superficially reminiscent an earlier traumatic incident."
Here's an example from my life: I really love the book Huckleberry Finn. Have you read it? It features frequent use of a certain slur for Black people. When he assigned the book, my instructor told us the book features this word and that we would discuss its use. This wasn't about avoiding it, and no one told him not to teach it: this was preparing us beforehand. As a Black girl I really appreciated the advance warning rather than stumbling on this slur and being shocked and hurt.
The U of Chicago's policy also assumes that students emerge from a vacuum. A student who has been sexually assaulted before they came to college may appreciate knowing ahead of time that a book or a lecture in a course will deal with that topic, not as a way to avoid the topic but as a way to be prepared. U of Chicago has just declared that they will not provide any such advance warning and that their only response to any distress or pause a student may experience will be academic penalties. I think that's wrong of them, and actively inimical to learning.
Like I said, I have opinions on this subject. :)
Re: I have opinions on this.
In NZ, I was rather shocked to see very racy ads for condoms around the campus. I am sure people from more conservative cultures would find them seriously shocking. Should they stop advertising?
Then there are ads for an LGBT parade. Some people find those parades disturbing. Should they stop having parades?
I believe, one of the US universities forbade Halloween celebrations because they disturb some people. And then, of course, there are scientific ideas such as evolution and Big Bang which potentially offend the religious people.
Everybody is potentially offended by something else. I agree that the University is not there to make you feel safe, it is there to make you think. Thinking is rarely safe.
Books are funny. Read in one of the LJ-communities, a book review. The protagonist was a good person even though he owned slaves. Morals change. Books should be understood and accepted within their timeframe. I remember I could not understand why Juliet could not simply run away to her Romeo without all the theatrics. Then somebody explained to me that she wanted her father's blessing. Go figure...
Thank you for sharing your point of view.