The decision not to renew the contract of an Art History professor because she showed a respectful image of Muhammad is just...weird. Up and down the story...weird.
I agree with Robert Farley that this is an example of how administrators are not the friends or allies of the teaching faculty, especially vulnerable adjuncts. It's not that bad in our small school, but there is an element where - as a teacher - you wonder if the purpose of administration is to support the teaching, coaching and mentoring that the bulk of the faculty do, or whether the faculty exist to serve the whims of the administration.
The Hamline incident is one where the teacher followed all possible best practices with trigger warnings to a non-offensive painting. She gave every student the opportunity to opt out. One student was outraged. One. Who apparently felt it was sprung on her because she clearly wasn't paying attention or reading the syllabus. That was enough to kick in the administrator's basic impulse: Better to have conflict with a faculty member than a student or parent.
The idea that students should be comfortable is ridiculous. Education is about leaning into your discomfort, your ignorance, your inexperience. We have conflated "comfort" with "safety." Every student should feel safe but not "safe."
Ugh, we are going to have a dozen Jon Chait columns on this, too.
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