Academic Freedom and Classroom Conduct (NO COVID DISCUSSION)

Zod must first express his disappointment over the lack of serious interest in this topic, especially as he included a link in the OP which expresses many very anti-Zod ideas as a handicap.

But Zod understands that above all, humans are not rational creatures, and unlike Zod (whose emotions tend to get out of hand only where the swine -El is concerned), are ruled almost entirely by their feelings.

But since there is a lack of interest in serious discussion of the larger topic of academic freedom, Zod will return to the story which inspired the creation of this thread, that of the non-renewed contract of the trolling Hamline university professor who baited an entire campus into chaos.

Prater by name, if she is not a bigot (no evidence of this has emerged so far, at least to Zod's knowledge), she exists at the busy intersection of a) low or non-existent empathy, b) an extremely passive aggressive personality, and c) high narcissism.

Zod will not claim that Hamline University has consistently behaved in a proper manner either, in many instances fueling the fire Prater started with their preposterous comments and actions.

But the one thing they got right - if only blind squirrel-style - was deciding not to renew this troubled woman's contract.

I don't know if anyone here has ever encountered or been forced to suffer a passive-aggressive narcissist, but if so, you have Zod's condolences.

The hallmark of their behavior is creating chaos and destruction while pretending to abhor and oppose it; the perfect example of this personality is the arsonist fireman.

While Zod himself is not above a controlled burn here and there to achieve strategic ends - one stands tallest when one kneels to Zod after all! - Zod is likewise aware of the teapot tempestuous nature of human emotion, and the fragility attendant.

Thus Zod finds it ironic that he feels greater empathy toward these Muslim students than their own human instructor did.

Zod has observed that contrary to Zod's personality, most humans prefer not to be noticed.

You remind Zod of Kryptonian rabbits, scurrying whenever any potential danger, no matter how remote, presents itself.

Thus when interacting with you, Zod has learned to take this quirk of your inferior species into account.

This Hamline instructor failed miserably to do this. (Failed at best.)

While APPEARING to dot every i and cross every t, she set a trap, knowingly or otherwise.

If humans are rabbits in general, when you recognize that you are in the minority of the different, whether openly celebrating this differentness in some contexts or not, you may become even more agitated, preparing to flee, or perhaps fight/bite like a rabbit.

Zod thus notes that within minutes of the inevitable objection of a Muslim student, Prater contacted her department head, this head foolishly stating that Prater had done everything right, and that she had Prater's back. (Neither was true of course.)

Zod cannot begin to fathom how any sincerely well-meaning instructor would have created this painful and chaotic situation, and why, in particular, Prater, in her feigned great concern for the sensibilities of her Musllm students, would not have sought out guidance and input from her superiors PRIOR to the inevitable occurring.

That she did not do so is quite a tell, but bigger ones follow.

Were Zod the instructor, Zod, in his beneficent wisdom, would NOT have put the burden of objection upon the student/s.

Of COURSE the little head-scarved rabbits were not going to raise their hands and say "Target me! I'm an offended Muslim!"

Nor were they going to approach the instructor one on one beforehand to discuss their private beliefs and the strictures thereof, Prater already so insensitive as to create this outrageous circumstance in the first place.

While the inflammatory Hitler/Nazi analogy has been used here, sexual assault is a better one.

Substitute rape, and a painting depicting this act, and you may better understand.

What this teacher did, in effect, was say "I'm going to show this painting of a violent sexual assault. If anyone has any objections, please be sure to come and talk to me privately about something that you may not have even told your mother about. Or better yet, raise your hand in front of everyone, and identify yourself as a victim. You can then run out of the room sobbing."

This would be despicable, but really, no more so than what she actually did.

But what COULD she have done?

It's so simple it terrifies the mighty Zod that he needs to point it out.

This was not a class on the Constitution wherein some might object to viewing the document, or a symposium on the atom where a student might have a moral objection to viewing naked neutrons.

This was an art class, and a halfway decent instructor, knowing she would have Muslims in her class, would have BUILT AN ALTERNATIVE INTO THE CURRICULUM in which, without explanation or penalty, without prior embarrassing and privacy-violating discussions, one on one or public, students could simply choose to discuss another work of art.

These two works of art would NOT be shown in class, but accessible by whichever online link a student chose.

If class discussion were desired, two different discussion times could also be offered.

It's so simple even -El could fathom it!

Zod would do the same were he so cruelly inclined as to present a depiction of Nazi atrocities to a class including Jewish students, or a depiction of rape to a class inevitably including those who had been sexually assaulted.

Provide an opt out free of penalty or invasion of their privacy.

These are well-known issues, and the instructor so aware of the potential for difficulty that she was very careful to create the APPEARANCE of proper teacherly conduct.

But like the fireman intensely aroused by the fire he has started and has now been called to extinguish, there is nothing proper here at all.

Zod thanks you for your consideration, whether from a position of genuflection or otherwise; it will not affect your grade.

Bottomline - the instructor is not obliged to cater to the particular religious beliefs of any Muslims in a "Global Art History" class and alter the curricula to not show any artistic images of Mohammed any more than a medical school is obliged to cater to the religious beliefs of pro-life Christians and not teach about or even discuss abortion. 

If the student didn't want to make a fuss, well, she did the exact opposite. She could have showed she had sincere religious beliefs and got up and walked out - the country would have never known her name, but instead she showed she had sincerely thin skin and made a mountain out of a molehill, demonstrating this was not about her private beliefs but about her desire for retribution and (possibly) publicity. 

Zod had thought to include this specific painting in his post, but it was already of epic length, so refrained. (Low-hanging fruit to be sure, so easily plucked.)

In the larger dumpster fire, nobody won, and as usual, nearly every human has failed to grasp the issues, including the Muslims calling for Prater's rehiring.

A good teacher places the needs and well-being of their students above all else.

The arsonist Prater continues to revel in the flames.

lets say a student triggered by the word marshmallow because of their 'religion'.  cater to that?  nope.
when you cater to personal sensibilities aside from legal stuff like pornography/threats and whatnot where does it end?  It doesnt.

This is college. They're both adults. Only one is acting like an adult (instructor) and one is acting like a spoiled child (student). 

"the presumably less responsible"  Oh my!! Such a presumption of irresponsibility and immaturity you have towards the student! 

College faculty are not "tasked with the care of" adults who act like children, they're tasked with providing an opportunity for adults to learn high levels of knowledge, skills, critical thinking and communication in specialized fields of study and then assessing their level of achievement towards those goals. Do they not have colleges and universities on Krypton? Shame if they don't. 

I don't know how it is on your planet, but here on Earth, in 21st Century America, college students are expected to be responsible for their own thoughts and feelings and understand that the world does not revolve around nor cater to their personal likes, beliefs and preferences. The world doesn't care what the individual thinks or feels - and adult humans know this, but toddler humans don't and instead tend to have temper-tantrums when they don't get what they want. 

The unthinking knee-jerk reaction of Hamline administration was to fire the instructor. But now, thoughtful responses from all over academia as well as Islamic cultural institutions are rallying in support of the instructor and against Hamline for their anencephalic knee-jerk reaction. 

YMMV.