University adjunct fired for showing painting of Muhammad
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@Axtremus said in University adjunct fired for showing painting of Muhammad:
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/08/us/hamline-university-islam-prophet-muhammad.html
In the syllabus, she warned that images of holy figures, including the Prophet Muhammad and the Buddha, would be shown in the course. She asked students to contact her with any concerns, and she said no one did.
In class, she prepped students, telling them that in a few minutes, the painting would be displayed, in case anyone wanted to leave.
Then Dr. López Prater showed the image — and lost her teaching gig.
Officials at Hamline, a small, private university in St. Paul, Minn., with about 1,800 undergraduates, had tried to douse what they feared would become a runaway fire. Instead they ended up with what they had tried to avoid: a national controversy, which pitted advocates of academic liberty and free speech against Muslims who believe that showing the image of Prophet Muhammad is always sacrilegious.
After Dr. López Prater showed the image, a senior in the class complained to the administration. Other Muslim students, not in the course, supported the student, saying the class was an attack on their religion. They demanded that officials take action.
Officials told Dr. López Prater that her services next semester were no longer needed. In emails to students and faculty, they said that the incident was clearly Islamophobic. Hamline’s president, Fayneese S. Miller, co-signed an email that said respect for the Muslim students “should have superseded academic freedom.” At a town hall, an invited Muslim speaker compared showing the images to teaching that Hitler was good.Dr. López Prater’s situation was especially precarious. She is an adjunct, one of higher education’s underclass of teachers, working for little pay and receiving few of the workplace protections enjoyed by tenured faculty members.
University officials and administrators all declined interviews. But Dr. Miller, the school’s president, defended the decision in a statement.
“To look upon an image of the Prophet Muhammad, for many Muslims, is against their faith,” Dr. Miller’s statement said, adding, “It was important that our Muslim students, as well as all other students, feel safe, supported and respected both in and out of our classrooms.”
In a December interview with the school newspaper, the student who complained to the administration, Aram Wedatalla, described being blindsided by the image.
“I’m like, ‘This can’t be real,’” said Ms. Wedatalla, who in a public forum described herself as Sudanese. “As a Muslim and a Black person, I don’t feel like I belong, and I don’t think I’ll ever belong in a community where they don’t value me as a member, and they don’t show the same respect that I show them.”This little school of 1800 students makes the New York Times. Well done, guys, LOL.
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@Mik said in University adjunct fired for showing painting of Muhammad:
Islam is foul.
Who was it who called it "The religion of perpetual outrage?"
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@Mik said in University adjunct fired for showing painting of Muhammad:
Islam is foul.
Who was it who called it "The religion of perpetual outrage?"
@George-K said in University adjunct fired for showing painting of Muhammad:
@Mik said in University adjunct fired for showing painting of Muhammad:
Islam is foul.
Who was it who called it "The religion of perpetual outrage?"
In this case, it's the university that's foul.
Religious people are frequently offended, and let's be honest, it's not just Muslims, although they do have more of history of over-reacting to the offence, if I can put it like that. They have a right to be offended. They don't have a right to do all the other shit, and the university had no right to fire this woman.
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THe university is goofy.
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Art professor sues after firing
Attorneys for an adjunct art professor said Tuesday she is suing the Minnesota university that dismissed her after a Muslim student objected to depictions of the Prophet Muhammad in a global art course, while the university admitted to a “misstep” and plans to hold public conversations about academic freedom.
In her lawsuit, Erika López Prater alleges that Hamline University — a small, private school in St. Paul — subjected her to religious discrimination and defamation, and damaged her professional and personal reputation.
“Among other things, Hamline, through its administration, has referred to Dr. López Prater’s actions as ‘undeniably Islamophobic,’″ her attorneys said in a statement. “Comments like these, which have now been published in news stories around the globe, will follow Dr. López Prater throughout her career, potentially resulting in her inability to obtain a tenure track position at any institution of higher education.”
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They're not terribly common, but I have met people who would walk a mile in a high force blizzard in sub zero conditions...if there's a possibility of them being offended - cuz they take some kind of personal satisfaction in expressing their having been offended. They'll climb a barrier and remove a remove a brown paper wrapper to find porn, so they can be offended. They'll read online what to be offended about - check out the library or church or wherever - so they can be offended. IF - as the story suggests - the professor did all of the precautions, the risk of offense should have been mitigated. Maybe there's more to the story?
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Prater has sued. In the meantime, the faculty has voted 72-12 to condemn the action and demand that Hamline President Fayneese Miller resign. With the exception of the 12 faculty dissenters, it is a relatively rare demonstration of academic courage in standing up to an anti-free speech mob.
The statement from the full-time faculty:
Statement from Full Time Faculty of Hamline University
January 24, 2023
In response to the current events and crisis facing the Hamline community concerning academic freedom, the faculty of Hamline University stand by these statements:
We are distressed that members of the administration have mishandled this issue and great harm has been done to the reputation of Minnesota’s oldest university.
We, the faculty of Hamline University, stand for both academic freedom and the education of all students. We affirm both academic freedom and our responsibility to foster an inclusive learning community. Importantly, these values neither contradict nor supersede each other.
We respect the diverse voices, backgrounds, and experiences of the entire Hamline community (students, faculty, staff, and administrators), and support the right of all to have their voices heard.
We believe our diversity of knowledge and experience makes us a stronger, richer community. Without this diversity, we would incompletely represent the community we strive to be.
We defend the right to academic freedom for the purpose of a strong liberal arts education and to uphold the principles of democracy.
We reject unfounded accusations of Islamophobia.
We condemn the hateful speech and threats targeting students and other Hamline community members.
We stand for intellectual debate and sharing of resources and knowledge without fear of censorship or retaliation.
We stand for the right to challenge one another’s views, but not to penalize each other for holding them.
We call for the fair treatment of and due process for all Hamline community members.
We thank and applaud students, faculty, and others in the Hamline community and beyond, who have taken the time and had the courage to speak out.
As we no longer have faith in President Miller’s ability to lead the university forward, we call upon her to immediately tender her resignation to the Hamline University Board of Trustees.
We are united in this statement.
We are the faculty of Hamline University.
