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[canuckois]

From Inside Higher Ed:

http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2011/12/14/professor-resigns-after-muslim-students-disrupt-class

(Gawker also has a slightly more irreverent summary here.)

I found it interesting that another student in the class -- who has filed a grievance to complain about how the situation was handled by administrators -- claimed that the class was unbiased, "but when she was asked if she would feel offended by the professor’s opinion if she were a Muslim, she said: 'I think I would.'"

[yemaya]

If the students were simply disruptive, I might have more sympathy.  I really have to question the judgment of the administrators for hiring an adjunct who thinks of Islam as a cult to teach Islam.  It sounds like he really had no business teaching this class.

[history_grrrl]

That student who filed the grievance also mentioned that the instructor included a section of his website on the syllabus (she cited this as evidence that his views weren't a secret from the college). The site is clearly partisan, not just educational/informational. Not sure if it was listed as one of several extra resources, or a required reading, or what, but I'd be interested to hear from our religious studies folks about the circumstances in which they would consider this appropriate.

[canuckois]

The website is full of crazy.  I'm not in Religious Studies, but I research and teach various aspects of religion.  Claiming that he is the "victim of Sharia law" due to the "jihadist actions" of these Muslim students just highlights how inappropriate his appointment was in the first place.  Yemaya is quite right -- someone like this should not be teaching a class on World Religions.

[bcohlan1]

I'll bet good money he ends up getting some mini-celebrity out of this through a stint on Fox news. Then someone in the conservative sphere will end up employing him on better terms than he got while an adjunct.

[aandsdean]

I'll bet good money he ends up getting some mini-celebrity out of this through a stint on Fox news. Then someone in the conservative sphere will end up employing him on better terms than he got while an adjunct.

Spokesman for Lowe's.

[yemaya]

That student who filed the grievance also mentioned that the instructor included a section of his website on the syllabus (she cited this as evidence that his views weren't a secret from the college). The site is clearly partisan, not just educational/informational. Not sure if it was listed as one of several extra resources, or a required reading, or what, but I'd be interested to hear from our religious studies folks about the circumstances in which they would consider this appropriate.

That's the thing that completely undermines the student's claims that the professor kept his views out of the classroom and makes her sound unintelligent.  He linked a partisan hate-mongering site on his syllabus.
How is that keeping his views out of it?  Maybe the two Muslim students should have gone to the administration, but then again, an administration that would knowingly hire a professor with these views to teach world religions are quite possibly also a bunch of hate-mongers.  The students may have had good reason to believe that the administrators would listen. The fact that he's now whining to the American "Family" Association, which is another bunch of hate-mongers, about being a victim of Sharia Law reveals that he is completely ignorant of Sharia Law and was monumentally unqualified to teach the class to begin with.  (Not to mention the fact that you simply can't conflate Christian doctrinal interpretations of apostasy with Apostasy in Islam.  Apples and Oranges.

[systeme_d_]

You know what truly angers me about this story?

The fact that it is commonplace for dozens upon dozens of colleges in America to hire as Religion instructors completely unqualified folks, with absolutely no preparation in the academic study of religion.

It happens all the time.  I've seen it.  It's an epidemic, particularly in community colleges.

[untenured]

If only the students hadn't overreacted, this would have been a slam dunk against the instructor.

It's hard to tell what exactly happened.  Was the instructor just reading straight from the Koran and the students went nuts because they understood his reading in the context of his hateful website?  Was the instructor expressing inappropriate bias at the time?  The event is just muddy enough for appropriate pundits to extract their pound of journalistic flesh.

[gsawpenny]

If had only spoken thusly about Christianity!  Surely he would have tenure by now.

[yemaya]

If only the students hadn't overreacted, this would have been a slam dunk against the instructor.

I do agree that the students probably didn't handle it the right way, though I do think that the even students in general had a right to be angry that the administrators hired an unqualified professor to teach their class.  The professor also should never have agreed to teach a class that he was grossly unqualified to teach and/or incapable of keeping his own biases out of the classroom.  There's a disturbing lack of integrity there.  And in terms of the Muslim students, the faculty and administration are also guilty of creating a hostile learning environment. 

It's hard to tell what exactly happened.  Was the instructor just reading straight from the Koran and the students went nuts because they understood his reading in the context of his hateful website?  Was the instructor expressing inappropriate bias at the time?  The event is just muddy enough for appropriate pundits to extract their pound of journalistic flesh.

True. I still think that this adjunct should never have been hired to teach that particular class, and the administration owes those students an apology at the very least.  I mean, seriously, that's like hiring someone with known Klan affiliations to teach a class on the Civil Rights Movement.  It demonstrates terrible judgment on the part of the administrators if they were truly fully aware of his ideologies.

[untenured]

Sure, the students could justifiably be angry, assuming that whatever the instructor said was that inflammatory.  By disrupting the class, the students just gave the instructor a 'woah was me' card to play.  How frustrating.

Is the professor unqualified?  I didn't get that impression.  He might be incapable of keeping his own bias out of the classroom, but I didn't get the sense that he lacked basic qualifications to teach the course.

The administration's fault in this depends upon how broadly one places the obligation on administrators to detect and stop the teacher's action.  If this was the very first time that out of the blue the instructor expresses bias, it's hard for the administration to prevent such inappropriate behavior.  If the guy was a biased jerk again and again and administration did nothing, that's another story.

The fact that the instructor had a website arguing some crazy things certainly makes it easier for administrators to find out.  But just because a website exists does not make it easy to locate.  There are tons of websites that no one visits or finds, and his might have been one of them.

If I were this instructor, I would claim that terminating me on the basis of my website (putting the classroom incident aside) is an infringement of my academic freedom.  You fire me because I hold controversial views, isn't that exactly what academic freedom is supposed to protect against?  I don't like the argument either, but he could certainly play that card.

I should be this guy's publicist.  I would have to shower every time I met with him though.

[canuckois]

If I were this instructor, I would claim that terminating me on the basis of my website (putting the classroom incident aside) is an infringement of my academic freedom.  You fire me because I hold controversial views, isn't that exactly what academic freedom is supposed to protect against?  I don't like the argument either, but he could certainly play that card.

It's worth noting that the instructor wasn't fired; he resigned.

[systeme_d_]

Is the professor unqualified?  I didn't get that impression.  He might be incapable of keeping his own bias out of the classroom, but I didn't get the sense that he lacked basic qualifications to teach the course.

He holds a ThM, which is a theological degree, not an MA or PhD in the academic study of religion.  The practice of hiring folks with only an MDiv, ThM, or similar degree to teach classes in the academic study of religion (which is NOT theology) is a widespread practice, with serious consequences for students.   

The MDiv and the ThM are degrees conferred to folks who demonstrate proficiency in a particular Christian confessional tradition.  These degrees do not qualify them to teach anything other than Christian theology.

[larryc]

Is the professor unqualified?  I didn't get that impression.  He might be incapable of keeping his own bias out of the classroom, but I didn't get the sense that he lacked basic qualifications to teach the course.

He holds a ThM, which is a theological degree, not an MA or PhD in the academic study of religion.  The practice of hiring folks with only an MDiv, ThM, or similar degree to teach classes in the academic study of religion (which is NOT theology) is a widespread practice, with serious consequences for students.   

That is the real story here, isn't it? Is there a set of standards from an academic association to give administrators guidance here?