UNK, like any university, should be open to discussing opinions of their students without fear of reprisal. It sounds like they are forced to hear opinions from faculty, but it shouldn't be a one-way street. No student should be forced to read porn or participate in any topics they consider immoral. Higher education is for leaning, not for trying to normalize what isn't.
Get real. These are adults, not underage children, who are choosing to pursue more education. Learning about the world and people/topics that simply EXIST is not promotion. It's education, that's the whole point. Engage with subject matter, ideas, or beliefs that aren't your own so you can think critically about them, and yes, agree or disagree with them.
I'm a recent graduate from UNK who majored in English. The "adolescent literature" class mentioned in this article was one of many electives students could take, alongside courses on classical American literature, ancient Greek epics, Shakespeare, etc. If one wanted to study only the classics, they had no shortage of course options that would allow them to do just that. As for the independent study being rejected, I have to imagine the issue came from the credit hours (independent studies offer only a single credit hour while full courses offer 3), though I can't know what really happened there. All this is to say that I think the picture of the UNK English department being painted here is pretty inaccurate. Current-day politics were hardly ever brought up except when explicitly relevant, and when they were disagreement was fully allowed and encouraged.
UNK, like any university, should be open to discussing opinions of their students without fear of reprisal. It sounds like they are forced to hear opinions from faculty, but it shouldn't be a one-way street. No student should be forced to read porn or participate in any topics they consider immoral. Higher education is for leaning, not for trying to normalize what isn't.
Get real. These are adults, not underage children, who are choosing to pursue more education. Learning about the world and people/topics that simply EXIST is not promotion. It's education, that's the whole point. Engage with subject matter, ideas, or beliefs that aren't your own so you can think critically about them, and yes, agree or disagree with them.
YIKES! They should contact https://www.fire.org/
I'm a recent graduate from UNK who majored in English. The "adolescent literature" class mentioned in this article was one of many electives students could take, alongside courses on classical American literature, ancient Greek epics, Shakespeare, etc. If one wanted to study only the classics, they had no shortage of course options that would allow them to do just that. As for the independent study being rejected, I have to imagine the issue came from the credit hours (independent studies offer only a single credit hour while full courses offer 3), though I can't know what really happened there. All this is to say that I think the picture of the UNK English department being painted here is pretty inaccurate. Current-day politics were hardly ever brought up except when explicitly relevant, and when they were disagreement was fully allowed and encouraged.