After Texas A&M University banned philosophy professor Dr. Martin Peterson from teaching some of Plato’s works. symposium On issues surrounding homosexuality, he replaced censored classes with lectures on free speech and academic freedom. coverage The university’s own activities will be provided as course materials.
Peterson teaches an introductory philosophy course, “Modern Moral Issues.” She said she was told she had to remove her reading of Plato under Texas A&M University’s new policy restricting course content that references sexual orientation or gender identity.
Under the new policy, the Texas A&M Regents adopted: pressure From the Texas Republican — Professors must submit a syllabus to the department chair for approval before each semester. They are expected to strictly adhere to the approved content and avoid classroom discussions that deviate from it. This restriction applies to all 12 institutions in the country. Texas A&M University System.
When Peterson first submitted his “Modern Moral Issues” syllabus, it outlined modules that focused on discussions of contemporary issues such as abortion, the death penalty, economic justice, and racial and gender ideology.
Peterson, who chairs Texas A&M University’s Council on Academic Freedom, shared the email on his website. daily noose He details an exchange with philosophy department chair Christy Sweet, who informed him that university authorities had placed a warning on his syllabus because his reading of Plato violated new syllabus restrictions.
“[T]”The board has made it clear that core curriculum courses, including PHIL 111 Contemporary Moral Issues, cannot include topics related to racial ideology, gender ideology, or sexual orientation or gender identity,” Sweet wrote in an email to Peterson.
Peterson challenged the decision in an email to university officials, arguing that his class “does not ‘advocate’ any ideology.” Instead, he said, “I teach students how to construct and evaluate arguments that are commonly raised in discussions of contemporary moral issues.”
The university argued that Mr. Peterson added the subjects at issue after the regents adopted new content restrictions last year, but Mr. Peterson said: new york times He didn’t mean to provoke.
“I am aware that many members of the Board of Regents probably do not agree with Plato,” he said. “They may not realize that because they haven’t read Plato, but it’s still a valuable different perspective.”
Mr Peterson also warned that agreeing to censorship would reduce the quality of the course and the education students receive.
“You can’t just have one perspective in the classroom,” he said. “Then there’s nothing to discuss. There’s nothing to learn. It’s indoctrination. It’s Soviet-style education.”
After the appeal was denied, Mr. Sweet presented Mr. Peterson with two final options in an email. The course content will either be “relaxed” by removing flagged classes, or reassigned to ethics and engineering courses. He ultimately chose to revise the syllabus and replace the censored content with a lecture on “free speech and academic freedom.”
“I’m thinking of using this as a case study. [to] Assign for discussion a passage written by a journalist covering this story,” Peterson said. Inside higher education. “want [students] To know what is being censored. ”
The Texas A&M chapter of the American Association of University Professors accused the university of censoring Peterson’s course.
“At public universities, this action raises serious legal concerns, including viewpoint discrimination and violations of constitutionally protected academic freedom,” the chapter said in a statement. “Beyond the legal implications, the moral issues are serious.
“Silencing the 2,500-year-old thought of one of the world’s most influential thinkers betrays the mission of higher education and deprives students of the opportunity to critically engage with the foundations of Western thought. A research university that censors Plato has abdicated its obligation to truth, inquiry, and public trust, and should not be considered a serious institution of higher education.”
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, a free speech group that often sides with conservatives who accuse universities of censorship and ideological “indoctrination,” criticized the university.
“Texas A&M currently believes that Plato does not belong in the introductory philosophy course,” spokeswoman Lindsey Rank said in a statement. “This is what happens when a board of regents gives university bureaucrats a veto over academic content. The board has not only invited censorship, it has instituted censorship with immediate and predictable consequences. Banning 2,400-year-old philosophy does not protect students.”
Source: Metro Weekly – www.metroweekly.com
