Art history prof Mohammed firing update

| January 12, 2023

Some of you may remember this from last month – art history professor Erika Lopez Prater was fired from Hamline U.  after showing the above painting of Mohammed in her art history class.

Erika López Prater said she took many precautions before showing a 14th-century painting of the prophet to a global art history class, according to a report in The New York Times.

Ms López Prater said she had warned in her syllabus (emphasis added – Ed.) that images of holy figures, including the prophet and the Buddha, would be shown in the course.

She also asked students to contact her with any concerns and said no one did.

Before showing the image in class, she says she warned students that the painting would be displayed in a few minutes’ time, in case anyone wanted to leave.

So she warned students REPEATEDLY months in advance and offered help if there was any conflict… and received no responses.

A senior in the class had complained to the university’s administration, according to the report.

The complainant, Aram Wedatalla, told a school newspaper in December that she had felt disrespected.

“I’m like, ‘This can’t be real’,” said Ms Wedatalla, who in a public forum described herself as Sudanese.

“As a Muslim and a Black person, I don’t feel like I belong, and I don’t think I’ll ever belong in a community where they don’t value me as a member, and they don’t show the same respect that I show them.”

I suspect saying “if you are Sudanese at an American school, maybe you DON’T belong” would trigger someone, so I won’t. Suppose suggesting the student actually READ the syllabus is unreasonable, too.

The complaint was subsequently supported by other Muslim students who were not in the course but demanded action and said the class was an attack on their religion.

The Independent

So ONE student was offended. The rest just felt they should be offended because, you know, Islam and feewings. But, there is a potential bright spot:

The incident sparked outrage from free speech advocates. The Hamline administration’s  assertion that “respect for the observant Muslim students in that classroom should have superseded academic freedom,” was subject to particular criticism. As Amna Khalid, a history professor at Carleton College wrote of the incident in The Chronicle of Education, “Barring a professor of art history from showing this painting, lest it harm observant Muslims in class, is just as absurd as asking a biology professor not to teach evolution because it may offend evangelical Protestants in the course.”

On January 4, FIRE Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) announced that it had filed a formal complaint with the Higher Learning Commission, Hamline’s accreditor. The professor’s “nonrenewal violates both HLC and Hamline policies clearly committing the university to free expression and its corollary, academic freedom for all faculty,” wrote Alex Morey, FIRE’s director of campus rights advocacy, in a letter to the accreditor.

Reason.com

Hit ’em where it hurts… pretty sure most parents would think twice about sending their kid to a pricey school where the accreditation is in any kind of doubt. Remember when the Missouri prof laid hands on a student reporter for covering a BLM demonstration back in ’16 or so? That cost ’em about  a 20% drop in enrollment they would like to forget.

Category: "Teh Stoopid", General Whackos, None, Schools, The Stupid is Strong

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Anna Puma

Reward immature behavior, get more of it.

Institute of higher learning? Prove it.

Mason

Hamline’s tuition is about $50k a year. At least you won’t get offended in exchange for your money.

KoB

One has to wonder who is paying Ms Black Muslim Female’s tuition. Rhetorical question that we all know the answer to. I looked across my field and, alas, it is still barren.

AW1Ed

Imagine the fun.

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rgr769

Wow! You guys really want to antagonize our resident ‘Slamonazis. You will be busy moderating their comments. Y’all should consider investing in some body armor. Remember Charlie Hebdo.

President Elect Toxic Deplorable Racist SAH Neande

In Charlie, the Frog “journalists” didn’t have any guns/ammo to shoot back with to defend themselves.

Fairly certain the good counselor is being factious, Tox.
*grin*

Sapper3307

Draw Mohmmed (pedo) day.

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5JC

Great, now reprentatives of the religion of peace will be forced to murder everyone at the offices of TAH.

Are you guys still located at 404 3rd Avenue, Suite 203, Minneapolis, MN 55401? Because if so you better move.

AW1Ed

Dammit! I just renewed the lease.

Graybeard

I need to draw Mohammed as he currently is enjoying hell.

That’ll sparkle the little self-righteous snowflake.

Carlton

To be fair, there is a chance, albeit minimal, that he came to the Truth and repented before he died. Only because of Our Father’s infinite mercy.

More than likely the illiterate paedo is indeed in an unquenchable fire.

Only Army Mom

A piece of information I didn’t see in the above is the one, offended student is also the president of their muslim student activists. Or is it actors? I can never decode all these acronyms.

I guess, in order to graduate and qualify for a job with the council for arrogant intolerant medievalists, one must cause the infidels to prostrate themselves over charges of being offensive to the religion of peace. Getting a lawsuit going is probably equivalent to a graduate degree.

Did I get that acronym right? I’m sure there are many here who will correct me if I’m mistaken.

rgr769

He is prezy of Hamline’s Muslim Student Association (MSA). The MSA is active on every major college campus. It is also connected to CAIR.

26Limabeans

I can’t tell what is going on in the painting but can imagine all
sorts of things given my open mind. But isn’t art about the
descriptive methods used and not the subject matter itself?
Could be a drawing of Jill and uncle Frank for all I know.

Anonymous

No one reads, no one lets you know ahead of time, no one heads warnings… but they complain like scalded cats in surprise over the least little thing anyway.

Messkit

Why is she attending a school called HAMline?

And, why is this woman speaking to men who are not related to her?