the atlantic the coddling of the american mind

So…he completely missed the one that goes, How can I ensure that my most sensitive student feels respected and welcome at the discussion as I introduce this material?Īnd then there’s Lukianoff’s reactive and frankly embarrassing analysis of the training materials for a workshop on race. Increasingly, professors must ask themselves not just What is the best way to teach this material? but also Might the most sensitive student in the class take offense if I say this, and then post it online, and then ruin my career? In The Atlantic‘s article that tells the authors’ backstories, Haidt says, But when viewed conceptually, when seen under the auspices of genuine respect for the most vulnerable and their ability to learn, the issue can change shape and make overarching sense. Pedagogically speaking, it makes sense that a myriad of random political correctness rules would be stifling. The authors make it clear from the start that they’re going to parade incredulity of the oppressed as unbiased academia, bring in expert opinions almost only on the basis of speculations and word definitions, and lay on the anecdotal shock-factors heavily. And Haidt, a social/moral psychologist who teaches ethical leadership in the NYU business school and does Ted Talks? Sure, he seems qualified enough to discuss the bigger picture behind students’ emotional reactions.īut then they start out by raising an appeal to the Great Authority On Political Correctness in Comedy, Jerry Seinfeld - you know, the guy who has recently taken a lot of flak ( Salon, Huffpost) for his eyebrow-raising opinions of his 14-year-old daughter’s use of the word “sexist.” (To be fair, Bill Maher’s response was even cheaper.) And it didn’t get any more okay after that. Alas, Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt (pictured) did not deliver anything unexpected in The Atlantic‘s September cover story, “The Coddling of the American Mind.” Lukianoff, the president and CEO of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education and author of a book on campus censorship, undoubtedly comes from a certain perspective. It would have been just great if two expert white men had written a trauma-informed essay about teachers’ experiences of their students feeling triggered.

The atlantic the coddling of the american mind