Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Tech

Cambridge University Issues ‘Trigger Warnings’ over Shakespeare Reading

AFP
byTom Ciccotta20 Oct 20170
20 Oct, 201720 Oct, 2017
S..

AFP

byTom Ciccotta20 Oct 20170

Students at the prestigious Cambridge University have been given “trigger warnings” ahead of a Shakespeare reading assignment because the assigned play involves depictions of sexual violence.

Undergraduate students at Cambridge were provided a document this semester that warned that a lecture on Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus and The Comedy of Errors could be potentially upsetting because the lecture would cover topics such as sexual and non-sexual violence.

Gill Evans, emeritus professor of medieval theology and intellectual history at Cambridge, criticized the decisions to forewarn students but conceded that the document was likely produced due to “a genuine wish not to risk upsetting students.”

“Interfering with academic courses for non-academic reasons is so important, and it ought to be approved by Regent House,” she added. “Obviously one would not want to be heartless. But you’ve got to learn to be a bit resilient.”

Other faculty members were less reserved in their criticisms of the policy. “If a student of English Literature doesn’t know that ‘Titus Andronicus’ contains scenes of violence they shouldn’t be on the course,” Dr. David Crilly, who serves as the artistic director of the Cambridge Shakespeare Festival, argued. “This degree of sensitivity will inevitably curtail academic freedom. If the academic staff are concerned they might say something students find uncomfortable they will avoid doing it.”

The Telegraph noted in their report that law lecturers at the University of Oxford were also allegedly asked to provide trigger warnings before entering into discussions on cases that involve violence or death. Students were also permitted to leave the classroom if they personally found the content to be “distressing.”

A Cambridge University spokesman said in a statement that the decision to provide trigger warnings to the students is not reflective of any specific university policy: “Some lecturers indicate that some sensitive material will be covered in a lecture by informing the English Faculty Admin staff who prepare the Faculty’s ‘Notes on Lectures’ which are distributed to English students.

Read More Stories About:

Education, Social Justice, Tech, trigger warnings, University of Cambridge, William Shakespeare

P.S. DO YOU WANT MORE ARTICLES
LIKE THIS ONE DELIVERED RIGHT TO YOUR INBOX?
SIGN UP FOR THE DAILY BREITBART NEWSLETTER.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Original Article

Finance

In an interview with ET Now, Dabur India Director Mohit Burm..

Science

The 147th Open championship will be at Carnoustie Golf Club in Scotland. Jan Kruger/R&A Golfers ..

Tech

Enlarge Oliver Morris/Getty Images) In response to an Ars re..

Tech

Enlarge/ You wouldn't really want to use Nvidia's ..