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Cambridge Uni students get Shakespeare trigger warnings
Shakespeare contains gore and violence that might "upset" you, Cambridge University students have been warned. The "trigger warnings" - red triangles with an exclamation mark - appeared on their English lecture timetables.
Lectures including Shakespeare's Titus Andronicus contain "discussion of sexual violence, sexual assault", the BBC's Newsnight programme has learned.
The university said the warnings were "at the lecturer's own discretion" and "not a faculty-wide policy". The lecture timetables were issued to this term's students by the university's faculty of English.
[...] Asked about the warnings, one Cambridge academic who did not wish to be named, said their "duty as educators was to prepare students for the world not protect them for three years". Prof Dennis Hayes from Derby University's education faculty said: "Once you get a few trigger warnings, lecturers will stop presenting anything that is controversial... gradually, there is no critical discussion".
Cambridge University said the English faculty "does not have a policy on trigger warnings", but added: "Some lecturers indicate that some sensitive material will be covered in a lecture... this is entirely at the lecturer's own discretion and is in no way indicative of a faculty-wide policy."
Forsooth!
Also at Cambridge News, The Guardian, and The Independent.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Whoever on Friday October 20 2017, @02:45AM (9 children)
Have you actually read Titus Andronicus?
(Score: 4, Insightful) by c0lo on Friday October 20 2017, @03:22AM (8 children)
And...?
Wikipedia [wikipedia.org] with citation:
What's next?
- ban Shakespeare because the utmost majority of his characters are white and the only black one killed his wife (for failing to iron his hankie)?
- ban Casablanca because everybody and their dog are smokers? (hold a second on to this, I'll need to pay attention next time to identify the non-smokers. But you get the gist)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 3, Disagree) by tfried on Friday October 20 2017, @10:26AM (7 children)
Umm - where exactly did you get that?
Yes, this particular warning is sort of silly, but I certainly prefer an overcautious lecturer including a warning, just in case, to an overcautious lecturer omitting anything "problematic", just in case.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday October 20 2017, @11:04AM (2 children)
From TFS
Nothing formal, just a de facto ban.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 20 2017, @05:22PM (1 child)
No, they won't. You are just making a mountain out of a mole hill.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 21 2017, @12:42AM
Yes, they will. You are making a mole hill out of a mountain.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by nobu_the_bard on Friday October 20 2017, @12:39PM (3 children)
Just start putting warnings on everything until it no longer has any meaning.
Calculus I
* Trigger Warning: Students may be exposed to unshielded derivatives and excessive talk about sin, not just cos.
Physics I
* Trigger Warning: There may be discussion of gravity that both agrees with observable reality and defies students' expectations, which sometimes leads to bouts of discomfort.
Introduction to Computer Use
* Trigger Warning: Microsoft Office has proven to lead some weak-hearted students to uncontrollable anger or thoughts of suicide.
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Friday October 20 2017, @06:45PM
Ok, I have to agree about the one about Microsoft Office. That thing is indeed horrible, especially the version where the background color is bright red and the menus are in ALL-CAPS. Holy shit, what fucking moron UI designer came up with that shit?
But a trigger warning isn't the answer. An outright ban on using Microsoft Office in the university is. There's no reason for using MS Office in an academic setting (where students are typically on tight budgets) when LibreOffice is both Free and free, and as a bonus it won't cause you to want to rip out your eyeballs.
(Score: 2) by darkfeline on Friday October 20 2017, @10:01PM
Life
* Trigger Warning: You may experience uncomfortable feelings. Are you sure you wish to live?
Join the SDF Public Access UNIX System today!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 21 2017, @12:54AM
Cosplay is just advanced sinplay.