Presented as an informational session as part of the University of South Alabama's College of Education's Diversity Committee "Brown Bag" series.

1. Trigger Warnings
COE DIVERSITY COMMITTEE
WHAT’S TRENDING? PROGRAM
MODERATED BY DR. PEGGY DELMAS & DR. BENTERAH C. MORTON
OCT. 11, 2016

2. What is a trigger warning?
 “alerts professors are expected to issue if something in a course
might cause a strong emotional response” (Lukianoff & Haidt,
2015).
 Content that might “trigger” a recurrence of a past trauma.
 Originated with websites where the hosts would alert visitors to
potentially troubling or graphic content.

3. Trigger warnings in the news
 http://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/403879/how-america-reacted-to-
the-coddling-of-the-american-mind/

4. Trigger warnings in the news
"Our commitment to academic freedom means that we do not support so-called trigger
warnings, we do not cancel invited speakers because their topics might prove
controversial and we do not condone the creation of intellectual safe spaces where
individuals can retreat from ideas and perspectives at odds with their own.“ – John
Ellison, Dean of Students

5. Trigger warnings in the news

6. Trigger warnings in the news
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uu3cQcA647A

7. Trigger
warnings on
social media
The politically correct nature of
trigger warnings also mean that they
are ‘fodder for jokes.’ (Marcotte,
2013)

8. Ethical consideration of
trigger warnings (Wyatt, 2016)
 “Because of the ethical complexity involved with trigger warnings, the robust debate around is
deserved.”
 “What has been lost in the debate, however, is a sense of reasonableness.”
 Three considerations:
 Content
 Journalist James Foley
 instructor intuition
 follow students’ lead
 Context
 What is the course?
 Who are the students?
 What is the structure?
 Mutual obligations
 Student/instructor relationship
 Role of the university

9. References & Resources
 American Association of University Professors (n.d.). On trigger warnings.
Retrieved from https://www.aaup.org/report/trigger-warnings
 Flaherty, C. (2016, October 4). Pushing trigger warnings. Inside Higher Ed.
Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/10/04/american-
university-student-government-launches-campaign-mandatory-trigger-
warnings
 Haidt, J., & Lukianoff, G. (2015, September). The coddling of the American
mind. Atlantic Monthly. Retrieved from
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/09/the-coddling-of-the-
american-mind/399356/
 Jaschik, S. (2016, August 25). U Chicago to freshmen: Don’t expect safe spaces.
Inside Higher Ed. Retrieved from
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/08/25/u-chicago-warns-
incoming-students-not-expect-safe-spaces-or-trigger-warnings

10. References & Resources
 Jaschik, S. (2016, September 14). Chicago professors fire back. Inside Higher Ed.
Retrieved from https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/09/14/u-chicago-
professors-issue-letter-safe-spaces-and-trigger-warnings
 Manne, K. (2015, September 19). Why I use trigger warnings. The New York Times.
Retrieved from http://www.bu.edu/fafc/files/2015/10/Why-I-Use-Trigger-Warnings-
The-New-York-Times.pdf
 Marcotte, A. (2013, December 30. The year of the trigger warning. Slate Magazine.
Retrieved from
http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2013/12/30/trigger_warnings_from_the_femi
nist_blogosphere_to_shonda_rhimes_in_2013.html
 Trigger warning (n.d.). In Oxforddictionaries.com. Retrieved from
https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/trigger_warning
 Wyatt, W. (2016). The ethics of trigger warnings. Teaching Ethics, 16(1), pp. 17-35.
doi: 10.5840/tej201632427