Post by 🦍MAXX＞ⓤ on Jan 9, 2023 0:20:53 GMT -5
Erika López Prater, an adjunct professor at Hamline University, in St. Paul, Minnesota, said she knew that 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 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 López Prater showed the image — and lost her teaching gig.
Officials at the small private university, 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 Muhammad is always sacrilegious.
After 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 López Prater that her services next semester were no longer needed. In emails to students and faculty, they said the incident was clearly Islamophobic. Hamline’s president, Fayneese Miller, co-signed an email that said respect for the Muslim students “should have superseded academic freedom.”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 Adolf Hitler was good.
Free-speech supporters started their own campaign. An Islamic art historian wrote an essay defending López Prater and started a petition demanding the university’s board investigate the matter. It had more than 2,800 signatures. Free-speech groups and publications issued blistering critiques; PEN America called it “one of the most egregious violations of academic freedom in recent memory.” And Muslims themselves debated whether the action was Islamophobic.
www.yahoo.com/news/lecturer-showed-painting-prophet-muhammad-152743633.html
In the syllabus, she warned that images of holy figures, including 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 López Prater showed the image — and lost her teaching gig.
Officials at the small private university, 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 Muhammad is always sacrilegious.
After 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 López Prater that her services next semester were no longer needed. In emails to students and faculty, they said the incident was clearly Islamophobic. Hamline’s president, Fayneese 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 Adolf Hitler was good.
Free-speech supporters started their own campaign. An Islamic art historian wrote an essay defending López Prater and started a petition demanding the university’s board investigate the matter. It had more than 2,800 signatures. Free-speech groups and publications issued blistering critiques; PEN America called it “one of the most egregious violations of academic freedom in recent memory.” And Muslims themselves debated whether the action was Islamophobic.
www.yahoo.com/news/lecturer-showed-painting-prophet-muhammad-152743633.html