Teacher To Students: Disavow Your “Americanness, Maleness, Whiteness, Heterosexuality”

Posted by | November 28, 2012 00:00 | Filed under: Top Stories


A political science teacher at Butler University says this is a way to eliminate your prejudices when writing and speaking.

“Language that is truly inclusive affirms sexuality, racial and ethnic backgrounds, stages of maturity, and degrees of limiting conditions,” the syllabus states, referencing a definition created by the United Church of Christ.

The syllabus of the class, called Political Science 201: Research and Analysis, goes on to ask students “to write and speak in a way that does not assume American-ness, maleness, whiteness, heterosexuality, middle-class status, etc. to be the norm.” It is taught by a black, female professor.

In an interview with The College Fix, Jay Howard, dean of Butler’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, denied this practice essentially presumes every student who walks through the door is a racist or misogynist.

He said students must be told not to assume such prejudices because such assumptions are ingrained into the culture and remain there until questioned. With that, a liberal arts education questions these assumptions, and such questions can make for uncomfortable situations, he said.

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Copyright 2012 Liberaland
By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.

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