After leaving the class’ first meeting last Thursday, the students enrolled in History 237 were all deeply disturbed by the class syllabus’ inclusion of racist terminology, satanic symbolism, and a schedule that demands far too much required reading.
“I mean, what kind of professor just puts it all out in the open like that?” remarked LSA Junior Steve Taylor, referring to the list of 18 mandatory books sandwiched between a Satanic inverted cross and a 1914 Negro Caricature. “Sure, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but come on, it’s the 21st century. No one reads that much anymore.”
Reports indicate that several students were so offended by the syllabus that they walked out of the class halfway through. Theresa Jones, one of the outraged students, said that she was ashamed to see something like that while attending such a prestigious university.
“The first several pages were bearable, but it took me until the fourth page of the syllabus to realize exactly what a terrible professor—and human being—he was,” said Jones in reference to the page that contained a swastika, an image of the Prophet Muhammed defecating on several well known civil rights figures, and an explanation that pop quizzes will comprise 20 percent of the class grade.
“I mean, 20 percent? I get that he wants to be sure we do the reading, but he doesn’t have to be a Nazi about it,” she added.
Originally published Feb 2014.
