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[zombie]

I have a first-semester course wherein I have guest lecturers on one day.  Last Thursday, a very engaging & interesting presentation from a Criminal Justice prof on Internet Terrorism in which he discussed extremist white hate groups on the Internet (and it WAS rather terrifying, to be honest) caused one African American student to storm out halfway through and then to call Dr. Guest, a racist in a later email.  Said professor is clearly NOT racist-- it was a case of "shooting the messenger".  In fact, this professor has worked significantly on task forces to monitor & stop these hate groups. 

The purpose of said course is to teach these students HOW to be college students (It's called a Freshman Seminar).  My thinking is that today I address a couple of issues.  How to react in a college course (or anyplace, really) when a lecture is on material you personally find offensive, how to behave in general as a college student towards professors, race (in a minor way-- I don't think it would be a one class subject to get into it in too much detail.)

I was thinking of having the students come up with ideas for what should be done in a situation where they found the information highly offensive-- group work, maybe. 

What do you all think, oh wise and experienced forumites? 

[zombie]

Wow, over 40 views and no one has a reply yet.  I can see that I am nervous about addressing this and am not alone. 

FWIW, I feel that because the student felt this way, the issue does need to be addressed.  Even though I did not feel the Dr. Guest Speaker was "recruiting" for the groups he discussed (which was Stu Dent's accusation) the fact that the subject matter upset her so much means it's an issue that others may have felt, too. 

I'll admit, I was overwhelmed by the huge amount of information he presented, and were I African American, I might feel troubled by the presentation just because it was all so awful.   As Dr. Guest said in HIS email, "be offended this stuff is on the Internet". 

Ya'll really don't have ANY suggestions?  I don't want to ignore it and pretend it didn't happen.  I remember being a young student and being so offended in an Ethics class one time I had to leave during someone's presentation, but I did it quietly, and came back after, so I know that sometimes things are just too much for someone to view dispassionately.  But how to you talk to a class about this kind of incident? 

[spectacle]

It is a touchy situation.

My instinct would be to be very stern about it.  "It's college, there are going to be conversations about uncomfortable topics; it's important that you understand the difference between presenting information and promoting an ideology."

I'm still thinking through how I would address it.

[ms_turtle]

I do think that you need to address the class. Not so much about the specific incident but about respectful and mature ways of responding in such situations.

You could present a hypothetical situation and work through or evaluate a set of different response. If you would like to have Stu Dent come talk to you personally, you might say that an audience member could contact the organizer or host for more information.

[frogfactory]

There's probably a sensitive way to tell the student s/he's an idiot and needs to apologise.  I don't know what it is, but I don't think there's any more to the situation than that.

[antiphon1]

Perhaps the next discussion could be examining how we can disagree and even be offended by another person's point of view without attacking or feeling attacked.  One of the most important skills students should acquire during the educational process is the ability to separate emotional reactions from rational thinking.  You might use this as an opportunity to examine the messages we receive from mass media outlets.  Consider using some of the cable news programs as examples.  

[carebearstare]

I would probably first have a conversation individually with the student in my office hours. You want to articulate that while you understand that the information was disturbing, the point of the talk was to raise awareness and that the speaker himself did not condone the views discussed. Especially if the student is one of few African American students in the class, feeling threatened is understandable. The student may want to talk to you about his or her feelings a bit, or talk to someone else. I would open this opportunity and be kind, but firm. I would certainly be clear that his reaction was not appropriate, though, and that in the future he needs to bring these kinds of concerns to you first.

I would also definitely have a conversation in the next class about what to do when things make you uncomfortable and you disagree. College is a place where you're supposed to occasionally feel uncomfortable, but not threatened. So you might be able to have a productive conversation about that difference. It might be worth it also to talk about research and what research does, and why people research things that are disturbing or offensive. Depending on the group, this could be a really great conversation.

My worry about just being stern about it in the classroom is that you might alienate this student even further, which might confirm his racist views. Remember, you're talking about a 19-year old who may not be used to seeing information that really puts him off. He's got to know that this information exists and develop a strategy to deal with it that doesn't make the world his enemy, and you can be helpful in that if you are sensitive.

Good luck.

[zombie]

I've encouraged the student to come talk to me privately, but that's certainly her choice.  It's possible, still, that she might today before class.  We'll see. I did respond to her email and tried to say the same things I would have said personally, and I did also explain that email is not the best place to discuss this kind of problem.

I agree with a lot of the ideas above.  I really like the conversation about ideology vs. information.  And I do very much want to discuss what one does in a classroom when the information is not pleasant.

About half the class is African American, so I don't think it was a case of feeling alienated for that reason.  No one else said anything, but that doesn't mean they weren't feeling it.  

I definitely don't want to be too stern.  In the email to Dr. Guest, Stu Dent also expressed that she was "upset with me" too, for allowing this speaker to come to the class.  So I think I myself walk a fine line-- that she's afraid to accuse me directly because I control her grades but she thinks, perhaps, I am guilty by association.  So it's a very fine line b/w great classroom discussion about differences and discomfort in the classroom & a much bigger incident.  And they are largely 19 year olds, and this IS their first semester in college, so I DO understand it's all new.  And up until this class, the guest speakers were really kind of boring & bland.  This guy was fascinating, but I think they expected boring forever (this is the first go-through on the class & I'm just learning about how to find good guest speakers).

Anyway. I appreciate the feedback. Keep it coming!  I have about an hour and a half to think about it!

[kshenko]

There have been some good suggestions.  Sure, it is important to learn early on in college that you'd be exposed to a variety of perspectives and topics, w/ which you may or may not disagree/feel comfortable.  But this is a bit more complicated than that, since it involves the racial dimension.  Due to your rather brief description of this serious-sounding issue, I can't really say I understand the scenario or the contextual nuances of the event.  I therefore can only make general comments, and I do apologize if they don't fit your situation.

1.  If I were in your situation, before taking any action and using this as a "teaching moment," I'd probably ensure that this student was indeed out of line.  This is because when we talk about racial issues in public fora, I wouldn't be so quick to say things like, "the speaker was CLEARLY NOT racist!"  This is because most, if not all, of us are racists in some ways to a degree, and such attitudes may show occasionally in what we say or do. For example, I have a European-American colleague who does great work on a particular ethnic group.  He knows a lot about them, he advocates for them, and he is fascinated by their culture. 

However, this level of "comfort" with the community sometimes appears to prompt him to make inappropriate comments, from our perspective (perhaps because he considers himself a cultural insider).  Sure, he is not being a "racist" in its traditional sense, in that he is friendly w/ the community on both personal and professional levels, but his act would unfortunately be considered racist, especially by someone who doesn't know him well.  Could this have happened in this case?

2.  With this said, there are cases where even the most innocuous and constructive cultural discussions can elicit the angry response you describe, OP.  A lot of students (usually European-Americans, though) believe in color blindness, and they innocently feel that all discussions concerning racial differences or racial relations are inherently racist--because they misunderstand the notion that "we are all equal" (i.e., "we have equal rights" is confused w/ "we are the same" --> so they often think you are a racist, just for saying "Black" or "White").  I tend to disagree w/ this colorblind perspective because there ARE indeed differences among cultural communities, and denying such differences would only lead to NOT respecting our coexistence.  If this is the case, your students need a whole different lesson than the one on dealing w/ counter perspectives and uncomfortable topics...

3.  What is the ethnic/racial composition of the class/university?  If he was the only (or one of the very few) Black(s) in the context, probably he felt singled out in an undesirable way.  This doesn't justify his behavior, but it certainly helps us plan things accordingly in the future.

[spork]

I don't understand -- a white guest speaker talking about anti-black terrorism/racism, and a black student gets upset?

[zombie]

I don't understand -- a white guest speaker talking about anti-black terrorism/racism, and a black student gets upset?

Yes, Spork, the speaker was white, as am I, the regular teacher.  The student offended was African American, but there is about a half/half breakdown in the classroom.  We're in the Deep South where race is very tense, and I often say it's kind of like the rest of the country, 30 years ago.  But Dr. Guest explained early in his presentation who he was, why he did this kind of research and he did also include some things in his presentation that were not black/white (like anti-gay groups, and a little bit about animal rights extremist groups, as well as brief mentions of Al-Qaeda). 

I do think that in a society that has a huge problem with race, were I personally giving Dr. Guest's lecture, I would have been more even-handed with groups that were not JUST black/white, to appear to be discussing extremism on the Internet in a more general way (which, by the way, is what I expected from his pitch to come to my class). 

But the incident is something that I think worthy of addressing, and I do understand her offense, by the way.  I just want to help all the students understand that sometimes, we learn about things we are offended by in college.  Information is not all going to make us happy. 

[concordancia]

I would recommend you use this video to redirect the conversation.

[zombie]

I would recommend you use this video to redirect the conversation.

THANK YOU!!  I've seen this video before but wasn't thinking of it!! Yes!  This is a great one to show in class. 

[lousia]

I would also definitely have a conversation in the next class about what to do when things make you uncomfortable and you disagree. College is a place where you're supposed to occasionally feel uncomfortable, but not threatened. So you might be able to have a productive conversation about that difference. It might be worth it also to talk about research and what research does, and why people research things that are disturbing or offensive. Depending on the group, this could be a really great conversation.

I agree with this view.  Part of being an educated person is the ability to view material with dispassion to discuss certain issues.

However, I also share this worry:

My worry about just being stern about it in the classroom is that you might alienate this student even further, which might confirm his racist views. Remember, you're talking about a 19-year old who may not be used to seeing information that really puts him off. He's got to know that this information exists and develop a strategy to deal with it that doesn't make the world his enemy, and you can be helpful in that if you are sensitive.

If being stern means saying something like, "Put on your grown-up undies and get over it", well, then I, too, might be alienated.  I've been in the hugely offended group for certain invited speakers and I certainly sympathize with the notion that not all public discussions of certain topics are as neutral and learning-experience-oriented as the speakers would have one believe.  Indeed, the fact that some people can view certain topics as worthy of neutral discussion and will sit through an entire presentation is often enough to make those people suspect, particularly if we're doing general public education instead of a targeted audience.

I just want to help all the students understand that sometimes, we learn about things we are offended by in college.  Information is not all going to make us happy.  

Well, there's not being happy and there's "I am not going to sit through any more of your nonsense, regardless of the consequences to me".  Had I signed up for an intro to college life class and gotten a lecture on certain inflammatory topics irrelevant to success in college, you can bet that I would have been out of that door and writing letters mentioning inappropriate content.  While getting along with our fellow people who are different from ourselves is a reasonable topic of discussion in a intro to college life class, I'm having a hard time seeing how discussing extreme views held by fringe groups falls into that category.

[carebearstare]

I've encouraged the student to come talk to me privately, but that's certainly her choice.  It's possible, still, that she might today before class.  We'll see. I did respond to her email and tried to say the same things I would have said personally, and I did also explain that email is not the best place to discuss this kind of problem.

I agree with a lot of the ideas above.  I really like the conversation about ideology vs. information.  And I do very much want to discuss what one does in a classroom when the information is not pleasant.

About half the class is African American, so I don't think it was a case of feeling alienated for that reason.  No one else said anything, but that doesn't mean they weren't feeling it.  

I definitely don't want to be too stern.  In the email to Dr. Guest, Stu Dent also expressed that she was "upset with me" too, for allowing this speaker to come to the class.  So I think I myself walk a fine line-- that she's afraid to accuse me directly because I control her grades but she thinks, perhaps, I am guilty by association.  So it's a very fine line b/w great classroom discussion about differences and discomfort in the classroom & a much bigger incident.  And they are largely 19 year olds, and this IS their first semester in college, so I DO understand it's all new.  And up until this class, the guest speakers were really kind of boring & bland.  This guy was fascinating, but I think they expected boring forever (this is the first go-through on the class & I'm just learning about how to find good guest speakers).

Anyway. I appreciate the feedback. Keep it coming!  I have about an hour and a half to think about it!

This info changes my response a little bit. If she doesn't come to talk to you, I might still try to talk to her before the class, even if only to say "Look, I understand you were upset, and we're going to talk about it today in class. I hope that our conversation today can be helpful to you. If you'd like to talk to me privately, let's set up a time after class."

I'm not sure if your students are the type that would respond productively if you were just to open the floor to have some conversation about the last speaker. If so, this could be really great and have other students articulate the points you might make if you were to simply give them a "talking to." If not, I might do as one of the above posters suggested and bring up a related media story--like the Danish cartoon controversy from a few years ago or some of the controversies the Obama presidency has engendered. How do you isolate the representation of controversial or offensive information from the information itself? What should be the role of the classroom in this?