After more than 1,000 novels were branded with trigger warnings or deleted from reading lists owing to their ‘difficult’ content, university administrators have been accused of patronizing and’mollycoddling’ students.
According to an inquiry, at least eleven universities, including three from the prestigious Russell Group, have either removed or made books optional in fear they injure or offend students.
Affected manuscripts include Colson Whitehead’s 2017 Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Underground Railroad and August Strindberg’s renowned drama Miss Julie, all of which were withdrawn.
Trigger warnings have also been issued for the works of literary giants such as Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Charles Dickens, and Agatha Christie.
Elizabeth McGregor, 22, is enrolled in the University of Essex’s ‘Beginning the Novel’ module, which no longer contains The Underground Railroad, a highly popular work about slavery praised by Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey.
The novel was removed from the reading list in part due to its ‘graphic description of slavery’s violence and abuse,’ despite the fact that the same depictions were deemed essential by Pulitzer Prize judges, who said it ‘combines the violence of slavery and the drama of escape in a myth that speaks to contemporary America.’
‘We have been advised a few times that we may choose whether or not to study readings, frequently when the topics are about racism, slavery, or gender,’ Ms McGregor told the Times. They treat us like toddlers and coddle us.’ According to the university, the book was taken off just one reading list, partially because ‘another book was considered as more suited to the learning purposes.’
A spokesman for the university said it was still available in the library and that students were exposed to the realities of slavery in other courses and modules, adding that content warnings were used because ‘we find it helpful and considerate to tell students about the issues that might come up in books or plays they are reading.’
Students at Exeter University may also choose not to read The History Of Mary Prince, another book on slavery, since it contains “graphic tales of prejudice, enslavement, and terrible cruelty.” According to a spokesman, no student has yet requested an alternative.
Lancaster University history aficionados may also opt out of reading The Diary Of Thomas Thistlewood due to its “detail involving sexual assaults and excessive brutality.”
The book is a 14,000-page journal written by Thomas Thistlewood, an Englishman. It gives a thorough account of his behavior as a slave owner in Jamaica in the 1800s, as well as a profound understanding of plantation life and owner-slave interactions.
Slavery specialist Daina Ramey Berry of the University of California expressed worry over a ‘trend to minimize, sanitize, and soften the history of servitude,’ adding that such literature must be examined.
‘There are genuine individuals who perpetrated these awful atrocities,’ she told the Times. It is critical that people understand what occurred and who those folks were.’
The Times made over 300 freedom of information requests to all 140 UK institutions, inquiring about trigger warnings and the removal of texts owing to content concerns.
Essex and Sussex universities acknowledged to withdrawing books for this reason, which is thought to be the first time this has occurred at a British university.
Miss Julie has been ‘permanently excluded’ from an undergraduate literature curriculum owing to its mention of suicide, a decision taken after students protested about the material’s possible ‘psychological’ and ’emotional repercussions.’
Before graduation in 2019, Jack Ross, the president of Sussex’s Conservative students association, told the Times that he had a lecturer who “taught the class that the Iraq war started because white people wanted to murder brown people, and no one was able to contradict him.”
‘When another speaker labeled Israel as aggressors, I put my hand up and explained the reality was more complicated than that, and he began sobbing,’ he continued. I felt obligated to play the game in order to achieve excellent grades.’
Kathleen Stock, a philosopher, resigned as a university lecturer last year after facing outrage for her ideas on sex and gender, which were labeled as transphobic.
According to James Noble, a former biochemistry PHD student at the institution, limits on free speech have grown ‘insidious’ on campus, with some students fearing they would be graded worse ‘when voicing opinions that differed from the professors.’
A Sussex spokesman told the Times that the university had ‘vigorously and firmly’ protected Ms Stock’s right to academic freedom and free expression.
She went on to say that every course would contain optional and obligatory reading, and that ‘we will always promote critical thinking and strong discussion in the classroom, no matter how tough, while also ensuring we support our students’ well-being.’
The spokesperson said that the FOI answer acquired by the Times was written wrongly, and that Miss Julie’s removal from the reading list was temporary and in reaction to student suicides.
She predicted that the book, which is still accessible at the library, will be reintroduced next year.
It comes as Leeds University is being sued by a Jewish graduate who alleges she received a ‘fail’ in one of her sociology papers for not criticizing Israel.
Danielle Greyman said that her thesis regarding Hamas atrocities against Palestinians was rejected because it did not criticize the Jewish state.
Juliet and Romeo
Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Trigger warnings have been placed on many novels (pictured: Romeo and Juliet and The 23-year-old girl, who had never failed an essay at university before, was obliged to retake the subject, which she passed. Despite this, Miss Greyman was unable to complete her undergraduate degree in time to begin a master’s program at Glasgow University.
Miss Greyman mentioned Hamas’ use of human shields in her original piece, calling it a “betrayal of the Palestinian people by their leadership.” ‘This overlooks the reality that the Israeli state conducts acts of violence,’ stated the moderator’s remark next to that section of the essay.
An external examiner advised that her essay be passed after reviewing it.
Liz Truss, who is now running against Tory candidate Rishi Sunak for the position of Prime Minister, has accused institutions of “patronizing” and “mollycoddling” pupils.
‘A successful education should be anchored by a free interchange of speech and ideas that is not confined by left-wing group mentality,’ she said.
‘Real life doesn’t come with a content notice – we can’t and shouldn’t insulate people from challenging concepts for the rest of their lives.’
It comes as French students at Nottingham Trent University are no longer required to read the notorious Charlie Hebdo magazine, which has been labeled “racist, sexist, xenophobic, and Islamophobic” by academic staff.
British universities have deleted 10 novels from reading lists or issued content warnings due to concerns about offending pupils.
Miss Julie was temporarily removed from a reading list at Sussex University due to its topic of suicide.
The Underground Railway, by Colson Whitehead, Essex University – a “graphic portrayal of slavery’s cruelty and torture.”
Miss Julie by August Strindberg, Sussex University – ‘Contains suicidal talk.’
Warnings about content or the choice not to read
William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Aberdeen – ‘contains classism’
William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Essex University – “contains inter-family violence, forced marriage, murder, and suicide.”
George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, Greenwich University – ‘Contains self-injurious behavior, suicide, and animal abuse.’
Anne Enright’s The Green Road, De Montfort University – includes Fatphobic material
Mary Prince’s History, Exeter University – “graphic stories of bigotry, enslavement, and terrible brutality.”
Glainne, Glasgow University, by David Eyre -‘sexual violence/rape’
Bronislaw Malinowski’s A Diary in the Strict Sense, Sussex University – ‘themes of racism, colonialism, and sexism’
Mentoring at Wrexham University by Susan Wallace and Jonathan Gravells – ‘humour that excludes persons who are trans or non-binary’
In 2015, Islamist militants assaulted the satirical journal after one of its drawings represented the prophet Mohammed. Twelve persons were slain, including many journalists.
According to the Times, the university’s decision on the journal was “permanent.” It made no additional remarks.
Students completing the Vulnerable Bodies, Precarious Lives course in Aberdeen may skip reading three texts because they’may be extremely hard,’ with options provided instead.
All the Birds, Singing by Evie Wyld, A Girl is a Half-formed Thing by Eimear McBride, and Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi are on the offending list owing to representations of sexual assault and/or suicide.
Meanwhile, students enrolled in an English Literature subject on Geoffrey Chaucer and medieval literature may opt out of conversations if they come across ‘issues you may find emotionally problematic.’
The Scottish institution has also placed trigger warnings on Shakespeare classics such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Classic Fairy Tales owing to representations of ‘cruelty to animals and animal death.’
According to an Aberdeen spokeswoman, alternate texts are supplied in “a limited number of optional courses” since those depicting sexual abuse may be “very disturbing” for students who have had similar experiences in their own lives.
They went on to say that content warnings enable employees to “explore challenging themes that might otherwise be difficult to handle in an open and supportive workplace.”
Students at Warwick who are enrolled in contemporary languages and the Gender Trouble in Contemporary Germany module may choose not to study Die Mittagsfrau by Julia Franck and Tomboy by Thomas Meinecke because they ‘gesture to contentious subjects.’
Warwick described the change as “temporary” while it considers “how best to include tough content into programs,” adding that it thinks students should be exposed to challenging concepts.
According to a university spokeswoman, content warnings are not standard policy and are used in less than 1% of the institution’s curriculum.
It comes after a June study found that university students had grown less tolerant over the last six years, with one in ten wishing to ban the Conservative Party from campus.
According to a Higher Education Policy Institute study of 1,000 undergraduates, today’s ‘Covid generation’ of students favor greater limits on free expression than their forefathers who came of age around the time of the Brexit vote.
More than a third (36%) now believe professors should be dismissed if they “teach material that strongly offends certain pupils.” This compared to just 15% in 2016, when the think group performed the same study.
Furthermore, 76% believe institutions should remove tributes to problematic personalities, such as the Cecil Rhodes statue at Oriel College Oxford, up from 51%.
University officials, according to Universities Minister Michelle Donelan, “must take active efforts to confront these intolerant views on campus, both encouraging and preserving free expression.”
Meanwhile, 39% say student unions should ‘bar any speakers who cause offense,’ more than doubling from 16% in 2016. In addition, 86% favor ‘trigger warnings’ on course material that may upset students, up from 68%.
Students are also less accepting of mainstream politicians, with 11% wishing to ban the Tory party from their school, up from 6%.