15 Grad school as conversion therapy
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Grace Lavery
Abstract
In 2018 the New York Times reported that the Department of Health and Human Services was planning to rewrite Title IX guidelines to define an individual’s sex as ‘the sex listed on a person’s birth certificate’. The purpose, evidently, was to abolish the idea of trans people by executive fiat. Meanwhile, some academics have attempted to frame the practice of deadnaming trans academics and students as a question of ‘academic freedom’. This chapter responds in order to attempt to establish a baseline protocol for scholarly discourse with trans and non-binary students and faculty – both in research and in teaching – and to encourage other faculty to sign on to such a protocol. That protocol is: no, deadnaming and misgendering are not acceptable scholarly practices, and no, they are not covered by the principle of academic freedom.
Abstract
In 2018 the New York Times reported that the Department of Health and Human Services was planning to rewrite Title IX guidelines to define an individual’s sex as ‘the sex listed on a person’s birth certificate’. The purpose, evidently, was to abolish the idea of trans people by executive fiat. Meanwhile, some academics have attempted to frame the practice of deadnaming trans academics and students as a question of ‘academic freedom’. This chapter responds in order to attempt to establish a baseline protocol for scholarly discourse with trans and non-binary students and faculty – both in research and in teaching – and to encourage other faculty to sign on to such a protocol. That protocol is: no, deadnaming and misgendering are not acceptable scholarly practices, and no, they are not covered by the principle of academic freedom.
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of contributors viii
- Introduction 1
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Protecting freedom of speech
- 1 Protecting the freedom of speech 23
- 2 Open-air free speech 30
- 3 The problem of neutrality and intellectual freedom 43
- 4 In a diverse society, is freedom of speech realisable? 53
- 5 Training readers as censors in Nazi Germany 63
- 6 Is boycotting for or against free speech? 74
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Free speech as a weapon
- 7 When is free speech not about freedom? 87
- 8 Drinking the hemlock 95
- 9 Secularism, Islamophobia and free speech in France 103
- 10 The logic of nonsense 115
- 11 Weaponised Swissness 131
- 12 Free speech and the British press 143
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Free speech on campus
- 13 Free speech and preventing radicalisation in higher education 157
- 14 Anatomy of a ‘trigger warning’ scandal 168
- 15 Grad school as conversion therapy 180
- 16 Teaching ‘freedom of speech’ freely 192
- 17 The politicisation of campus free speech in Portugal 200
- 18 Do we need safe spaces? 211
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The internet: the Wild West of free speech
- 19 A postmodern neo-Marxist’s guide to free speech 227
- 20 Free speech and online masculinity movements 239
- 21 Choose your fighter 251
- 22 Free speech in the online ‘marketplace of ideas’ 261
- Index 271
Chapters in this book
- Front matter i
- Contents v
- List of contributors viii
- Introduction 1
-
Protecting freedom of speech
- 1 Protecting the freedom of speech 23
- 2 Open-air free speech 30
- 3 The problem of neutrality and intellectual freedom 43
- 4 In a diverse society, is freedom of speech realisable? 53
- 5 Training readers as censors in Nazi Germany 63
- 6 Is boycotting for or against free speech? 74
-
Free speech as a weapon
- 7 When is free speech not about freedom? 87
- 8 Drinking the hemlock 95
- 9 Secularism, Islamophobia and free speech in France 103
- 10 The logic of nonsense 115
- 11 Weaponised Swissness 131
- 12 Free speech and the British press 143
-
Free speech on campus
- 13 Free speech and preventing radicalisation in higher education 157
- 14 Anatomy of a ‘trigger warning’ scandal 168
- 15 Grad school as conversion therapy 180
- 16 Teaching ‘freedom of speech’ freely 192
- 17 The politicisation of campus free speech in Portugal 200
- 18 Do we need safe spaces? 211
-
The internet: the Wild West of free speech
- 19 A postmodern neo-Marxist’s guide to free speech 227
- 20 Free speech and online masculinity movements 239
- 21 Choose your fighter 251
- 22 Free speech in the online ‘marketplace of ideas’ 261
- Index 271
