Wilfrid Laurier teaching assistant Lindsay Shepherd finishes speaking at a rally in support of academic freedom near the university in Waterloo, Ont., on Nov. 24, 2017.Tyler Anderson/National Post
My Laurier interrogation shows universities have lost sight of their purpose
One of the research paper topics that students from Communication Studies 101 at Wilfrid Laurier University can choose to write about this semester is communication bubbles. Communication bubbles refer to the phenomenon of people becoming entrapped in ideological echo chambers as a result of only seeking out, or being fed, news that confirms their existing beliefs. This trend has been greatly exacerbated in recent years by social media. As a proponent of viewpoint diversity, I find the idea of communication bubbles fascinating but troubling—I believe a willingness to explore new ideas, entertain a variety of perspectives, and confront information that challenges one’s beliefs are critical values.
I am a teaching assistant for Communication Studies 101. Last month, I showed my students a clip from TVO’s The Agenda with Steve Paikin, which showed University of Toronto professors Jordan Peterson and Nicholas Matte debating the contentious issue of gender pronouns. I mentioned to my class that watching debates such as the one we were about to view is a great way to break out of communication bubbles and decide for oneself whether an argument is valid or not. I emphasized that watching ideas being debated in action is how a “marketplace of ideas” is formed (a concept that is studied in the very course in which I was censured, ironically enough).
I find the idea of communication bubbles fascinating but troubling
Apparently, one or more students in my tutorial would have preferred to stay in their own bubbles, as they complained about the content of my tutorial to the course professor. I ended up being hauled before a three-person panel that many have described as “Orwellian,” “Maoist,” and “Kafkaesque.” I was told that playing the TVO clip was tantamount to violence, and that I had created a toxic climate and unsafe learning environment. I was also told that I had violated everything from the university’s Gendered Violence and Sexual Assault Policy to the Ontario Human Rights Code to Bill C-16.
I recorded this meeting, released it to the media, and—after the story had gone international—received a pair of lacklustre apologies from both the president of WLU and the course professor. The university has now launched a task force on freedom of expression in addition to a “neutral third party investigation” that will gather facts about the tutorial I taught in early November.
Despite the intellectual beating I got from my superiors, I still believe that debate, discussion, and dialogue are fundamental to the institution of the university.
Learning how to think critically is at the root of these arts programs, or should be
My undergraduate degree is in Communication and Political Science, so I know first-hand that students of the arts and humanities must constantly defend themselves from criticism that their degrees are worthless and will never get them a job. But I still believe it is incredibly valuable for anyone to study culture, society, history, and language. Learning how to think critically is at the root of these arts programs. Or at least it should be.
WLU’s interrogation of my decision to air two sides of a topical debate was so troubling because it revealed that these educators don’t believe critical thinking matters, or that they fear students exercising critical thought might lead them to politically incorrect conclusions. If that’s the case, how can these departments justify charging students for these degrees?
While many may call to de-fund departments in the arts and humanities, I believe we should instead restore their integrity. The first step in this direction is to remove constraints aimed at making classrooms emotional “safe spaces.” One step would be for the university to institute a free speech policy such as the Statement on Principles of Free Expression adopted by the University of Chicago. The statement affirms the university’s commitment to ensuring that ideas that may be considered unwise or offensive are not suppressed.
Students need to approach university with an openness to being challenged
I also believe students need to approach university with an openness to being challenged. If a student is not willing to discuss topical issues in an open and respectful way with peers who may have vastly different perspectives, that student should take a year off and only return to university if and when he or she is ready for dialogue and debate.
The reason I chose to pursue a master’s degree in the first place was not to advance my career prospects, but to advance my intellectual horizons. I am not sure I am achieving this goal, as I find myself surrounded by professors and students who are intent on pushing an ideological agenda, censoring certain topics from the classroom, and enforcing echo chambers of homogenous thought. I accept that I am partly to blame for this. I have been complicit in self-censorship these past years, by staying silent for fear of expressing ideas that could make me a pariah among the authoritarian left, who seem to think they have a stronghold on classroom morality.
But now, I have stopped paying any mind to the reactionary labeling and thought-policing from this group, and I feel more free than I have felt in a long time.
22winmag - ZH refugee who just couldn't take the avalanche of damn-near-hourly Bitcoin and doom porn stories
December 6, 2017 6:39 am
Too revolutionary.
She’s gonna get imprisoned and lashed with a wet noodle.
Iska Waran
December 6, 2017 8:54 am
Canada needs a First Amendment, but as we’re seeing in the States, that doesn’t really ensure free speech, given that private companies like the social media companies, the search companies and the ISPs censor views that oppose their agenda. And boycotts from the left ensure that companies promote a leftist agenda.
The First Amendment also insures your right to live according to the terms of your religion and freedom to publicly associate (or not associate) with those with whom you wish to associate.
Something that is obviously becoming no more than an obsolete historical footnote in the Constitution.
Anonymous
December 6, 2017 9:38 am
Good to see some more push back against the onslaught, and Lindsay seems to be a voice that speaks for the sane people, and not just up in Canada. Are you paying attention you native Brits & Aussies?
“PUSH BACK!” would be a good bumper sticker in opposition to the never trumpers “Resist” model.
Well, for those who like to post such proclamations of what they stand for.
Problem is, some Lib-Prog-Dems stoop so low as to vandalize vehicles with labels that differ from their retarded view of how things should be forced upon the entire populace.
Just ask the guy in Chicago who had a Trump bumper sticker, and had the living shit beat out of him by a gang of thugs, in one extreme example that the MSM never really reported on.
Conserva-Libertarian-Austrian-Econs would never do things like that. Would they?
After seeing that Asian video of a urine throwing Antifa degenerate get kicked in the chest and knocked on their ass, maybe Push Back is starting to gain some momentum.
Me likey.
~ Restless
Ottomatik
December 6, 2017 9:50 am
I am anxious to see if Jordan Peterson will be put in jail by the “Human Rights Commission”and hunger strike, for the content displayed in her video.
No. He won’t. This is Canada, not Europe. We’re a hybrid country that is somewhere in between you and our friends across the ocean politically and socially.
Our government has always had empirical aspirations but runs on a banana republic budget. It is a paper tiger by and large and it knows that if it pushes too far and too hard on certain issues that our more ‘American’ side will begin to surface. It lives in fear of that face, which is quietly and politely hidden behind a mask of tolerance and peace. If the mask is removed (and we have peaked under it from time to time) it does not have the resources, either financially or in manpower to do anything about it. It would be our end as a nation.
The Canadian government will only ever do what it is absolutely positive it can get away with. And nothing more. They will never touch Peterson.
Yes. But I think there are limits to most things and our government’s disadvantage is money and power. It is a rinky-dink operation in comparison to yours financially and politically. It has already stretched itself as far as it can go on the income it has. Unlike yours, ours can be bankrupted.
Oilman2
December 6, 2017 11:21 am
The bankruptcy we should be worried about is ideological bankruptcy.
The blackmail currently occupying the free speech zone can be overcome easily – damn the torpedoes and speak your mind.
A freedom is worthless unless it is exercised, and it appears that freedom of speech has atrophied in North America. Thus it is time for some repetitive free speech exercise, to retain the muscle memory of how to use it.
Fear of losing your job? When has that fear been nonexistent? At what point in time did having a job mean security? There are so many other bad things that can happen – divorce, illness, accidents… Losing your job simply means you have to find another, and you obviously are in an unhappy environment if your speaking out about things is considered anathema. Is retaining your mortgage (which is like Damocles sword overhead) worth your integrity? Is letting an entire generation grow up without a moral compass, swimming in the echo chamber, worth you retaining the right to pay interest for 30 years on a depreciating item?
I am heartened to see you stood up for yourself – and hope your example isn’t lost on your students. Accept the victory and take a lap, but invite your students to go along.
Damn, but this article is interesting – but the solution is simple.
SPEAK YOUR MIND!!
If you do not exercise your right to do so, then you are tacitly abrogating it.
I am imagining a room full of fur trappers and loggers having some beer after work in 1910. I doubt they were worrying about how they couched issues of the day or the possibility of hurting other’s feelings overmuch.
james the deplorable wanderer
December 6, 2017 11:37 am
In order to avoid starvation, one requires either a personal fortune or a source of steady income. While starving to death to defend the 1st Amendment is a noble thing, the actual implementation of such is bound to be unpleasant.
And probably unnecessary. At the rate things are going, the systems will fail in a few years or less, and you will be called upon to defend the 2nd Amendment while defending yourself from the hordes of FSA soldiers, Antifa idiots, SJW ideologues and ordinary criminals (politicians).
Hold your fire and save your ammo – the time to stand approaches, and you will not lack for targets.
Wilfrid Laurier teaching assistant Lindsay Shepherd finishes speaking at a rally in support of academic freedom near the university in Waterloo, Ont., on Nov. 24, 2017. 
Too revolutionary.
She’s gonna get imprisoned and lashed with a wet noodle.
Canada needs a First Amendment, but as we’re seeing in the States, that doesn’t really ensure free speech, given that private companies like the social media companies, the search companies and the ISPs censor views that oppose their agenda. And boycotts from the left ensure that companies promote a leftist agenda.
The First Amendment also insures your right to live according to the terms of your religion and freedom to publicly associate (or not associate) with those with whom you wish to associate.
Something that is obviously becoming no more than an obsolete historical footnote in the Constitution.
Good to see some more push back against the onslaught, and Lindsay seems to be a voice that speaks for the sane people, and not just up in Canada. Are you paying attention you native Brits & Aussies?
“PUSH BACK!” would be a good bumper sticker in opposition to the never trumpers “Resist” model.
Well, for those who like to post such proclamations of what they stand for.
Problem is, some Lib-Prog-Dems stoop so low as to vandalize vehicles with labels that differ from their retarded view of how things should be forced upon the entire populace.
Just ask the guy in Chicago who had a Trump bumper sticker, and had the living shit beat out of him by a gang of thugs, in one extreme example that the MSM never really reported on.
Conserva-Libertarian-Austrian-Econs would never do things like that. Would they?
After seeing that Asian video of a urine throwing Antifa degenerate get kicked in the chest and knocked on their ass, maybe Push Back is starting to gain some momentum.
Me likey.
~ Restless
I am anxious to see if Jordan Peterson will be put in jail by the “Human Rights Commission”and hunger strike, for the content displayed in her video.
No. He won’t. This is Canada, not Europe. We’re a hybrid country that is somewhere in between you and our friends across the ocean politically and socially.
Our government has always had empirical aspirations but runs on a banana republic budget. It is a paper tiger by and large and it knows that if it pushes too far and too hard on certain issues that our more ‘American’ side will begin to surface. It lives in fear of that face, which is quietly and politely hidden behind a mask of tolerance and peace. If the mask is removed (and we have peaked under it from time to time) it does not have the resources, either financially or in manpower to do anything about it. It would be our end as a nation.
The Canadian government will only ever do what it is absolutely positive it can get away with. And nothing more. They will never touch Peterson.
Both your people and our people seem to be willing to let our governments get away with far too much.
Yes. But I think there are limits to most things and our government’s disadvantage is money and power. It is a rinky-dink operation in comparison to yours financially and politically. It has already stretched itself as far as it can go on the income it has. Unlike yours, ours can be bankrupted.
The bankruptcy we should be worried about is ideological bankruptcy.
The blackmail currently occupying the free speech zone can be overcome easily – damn the torpedoes and speak your mind.
A freedom is worthless unless it is exercised, and it appears that freedom of speech has atrophied in North America. Thus it is time for some repetitive free speech exercise, to retain the muscle memory of how to use it.
Fear of losing your job? When has that fear been nonexistent? At what point in time did having a job mean security? There are so many other bad things that can happen – divorce, illness, accidents… Losing your job simply means you have to find another, and you obviously are in an unhappy environment if your speaking out about things is considered anathema. Is retaining your mortgage (which is like Damocles sword overhead) worth your integrity? Is letting an entire generation grow up without a moral compass, swimming in the echo chamber, worth you retaining the right to pay interest for 30 years on a depreciating item?
I am heartened to see you stood up for yourself – and hope your example isn’t lost on your students. Accept the victory and take a lap, but invite your students to go along.
Damn, but this article is interesting – but the solution is simple.
SPEAK YOUR MIND!!
If you do not exercise your right to do so, then you are tacitly abrogating it.
I am imagining a room full of fur trappers and loggers having some beer after work in 1910. I doubt they were worrying about how they couched issues of the day or the possibility of hurting other’s feelings overmuch.
In order to avoid starvation, one requires either a personal fortune or a source of steady income. While starving to death to defend the 1st Amendment is a noble thing, the actual implementation of such is bound to be unpleasant.
And probably unnecessary. At the rate things are going, the systems will fail in a few years or less, and you will be called upon to defend the 2nd Amendment while defending yourself from the hordes of FSA soldiers, Antifa idiots, SJW ideologues and ordinary criminals (politicians).
Hold your fire and save your ammo – the time to stand approaches, and you will not lack for targets.