(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . At Hamline University, progressives should acknowledge the mistakes on our own side. [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-01-13 The unfortunate series of recent events at Hamline University have received a lot of ongoing media attention. Just in case anyone isn't already familiar with this depressing story, the NYT provides the necessary details: Erika López Prater, an adjunct professor at Hamline University, said she knew many Muslims have deeply held religious beliefs that prohibit depictions of the Prophet Muhammad. So last semester for a global art history class, she took many precautions before showing a 14th-century painting of Islam’s founder. 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 ... After Dr. López Prater showed the image, a senior in the class complained to the administration ... 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 Hamline’s president, Fayneese S. Miller, co-signed an email that said respect for the Muslim students “should have superseded academic freedom.”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. Basically, the administrators at Hamline University fired the professor in question based on a perspective or an ideology that, in many minds, will invariably be associated with the Left, with progressives, and potentially with Democrats. From the times again: David Everett, the vice president for inclusive excellence, sent an email to all university employees, saying that certain actions taken in an online class were “undeniably inconsiderate, disrespectful and Islamophobic.” In what strikes me as a clearly misguided attempt at expressing inclusivity for minority voices, these admins at Hamline University have struck a potentially serious blow against the spirit of open inquiry that animates American schools at their best. And, as a result, they have faced what I believe to be a well-earned bombardment of criticism from voices that pretty much cover the range of political, ideological, cultural, or religious affiliation. Some examples: *At Slate, Jill Filipovic strongly disagrees with the stance adopted by the University administrators: This is all wholly unacceptable in any academic setting. And liberals should stand up against illiberal acts, even when those acts are carried out in the name of a minority religion in the U.S. Filipovic goes on at great length regarding right-wingers such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis who are engaged in their own attempt at censoring institutions of higher learning. But this unfortunate incident at Hamline University demonstrates the sad fact that Left-leaning ideologies can also lead to an unacceptable level of censorship. *And then there is the Atlantic, where Tom Nichols states ... Academic freedom is not an open invitation to be a jerk. It is not a license for faculty to harass students or to impose their will on them. But if all it means is that professors keep their jobs only at the sufferance of students, then it means nothing at all. *Pen America has issued a statement in favor of the fired professor: Not only is an art history professor well within their rights to show medieval and Renaissance Islamic artworks in class, but the professor apparently took added care to create a positive pedagogical experience for students – placing the images in historical context, allowing students to opt out of viewing them, and thoughtfully exploring the history and diversity of Islamic art and thought. Non-renewing a professor’s contract under these circumstances is academic malpractice of a type that chills speech among all faculty, particularly contingent faculty who cannot rely on the status of tenure to protect their academic freedom. This professor’s contract should be renewed immediately, and Hamline administrators should take an opportunity to remind themselves what academic freedom means. *The Academic Freedom Alliance has also condemned the actions of the Hamline University leadership: If a professor of art history cannot show college students significant works of art for fear that offended students or members of the community could get that professor fired for doing so, then there simply is no serious commitment to academic freedom at that institution – and indeed no serious commitment to higher education. *The Chronicle of Higher Education has also come out against the suppression of academic freedom at Hamline: In siding with the offended students, Hamline’s diversity administrators have not only trampled academic freedom; they have cluelessly taken sides in a theological debate about which they know nothing and over which they have no authority. In doing so, they have unwittingly affirmed a specific and highly reactionary position. *The American Association of University Professors is yet another organization taking Hamline University to task for its ill-advised behavior: We call upon the administration of Hamline University to reinstate the instructor to her part-time appointment and affirm the institution’s commitment to academic freedom in the classroom for all faculty members. *Even Muslim organizations condemn Hamline University in regards to the incident in question. From the Muslim Public Affairs Council: The painting was not Islamophobic. In fact, it was commissioned by a fourteenth-century Muslim king in order to honor the Prophet, depicting the first Quranic revelation from the angel Gabriel. Even if it is the case that many Muslims feel uncomfortable with such depictions, Dr. Prater was trying to emphasize a key principle of religious literacy: religions are not monolithic in nature, but rather, internally diverse. This principle should be appreciated in order to combat Islamophobia, which is often premised on flattening out Islam and viewing the Islamic tradition in an essentialist and reductionist manner. The professor should be thanked for her role in educating students, Muslim and non-Muslim alike, and for doing so in a critically empathetic manner. *And there are other Muslims who fault the University along similar lines: There is a debate within the Islamic tradition itself about whether prophetic images are permitted or prohibited. ‎Regardless of that debate, however, classroom discussions should not be regulated according to a particular strand in the religion. It behooves students to have a full discussion of Islam in the classroom. On many topics ‎in Islamic law, Muslim scholars have argued for competing ‎positions, ranging from liberal to the conservative, the ‎beautiful to the ugly, the tolerant to the intolerant. *And then, of course, there's FIRE, an organization promoting free speech on campuses: Although Hamline is a private institution not bound by the First Amendment to protect faculty academic freedom, it makes clear commitments to academic freedom that faculty will reasonably interpret to align with the First Amendment’s protections. Academic freedom requires that faculty members — not administrators or students — decide what materials to teach and how to teach them. In response to all of this criticism, Hamline University has managed to dig itself deeper into a hole of self-incrimination. An article expressing support for the fired professor appeared in one of the University newspapers, but it was soon taken down because some students claimed it harmed them. Critical comments have shown up on the university's various social media feeds, but such comments have been censored. And the President of Hamline University has released more than one statement on this controversy. Her statements can be found online for anyone interested; and they leave me with the clear and frankly surprised impression that this president is clearly in over her head. So here is my point: when this kind of problem comes up on our side of the political spectrum, we need to speak out against it. Doing so does not weaken the Left; on the contrary, we are keeping our side strong by constructively correcting its mistakes. The best outcome here is for the University to admit that they erred too far against academic freedom. A statement like that shouldn't be too hard to write. They can state that there are many competing interests at a university, that they strive to find a harmonious balance, but that they just didn't get it quite right this time. Then they should offer the teacher her job back. And that approach will provide the rest of us with an opportunity to say that progressives are capable of recognizing errors, correcting mistakes, and thereby moving into the future in a more productive manner. Republicans have shown that they are incapable of this kind of self-correction. We should not, under any circumstances, follow in those unfortunate footsteps. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/1/13/2146999/-At-Hamline-University-progressives-should-acknowledge-the-mistakes-on-our-own-side Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/