in which a student at Oakland University wrote a journal entry for a creative writing class in which one of his entries was apparently a sexually-charged commentary on the class’s instructor. She felt intimidated and complained to a higher-up; the subsequent chain of events led to his suspension from the university.
Were the teacher and university right to act as they did? I can understand why the instructor may have been offended or intimidated by his journal entry, and she probably didn’t foresee being the object of a journal entry like the one this student came up with. On the other hand, (at least according to the student) she did ask for uncensored writing, and perhaps was caught off-guard when some of it was too uncensored.
This leads to the broader question of whether these kinds of creative writing classes should carry any kinds of restrictions, or at least whether students should be warned that certain content may have legal repercussions (say, sexual or violent fantasies about students/faculty/staff or admissions of serious crimes like abuse). What sayeth the SDMB?
I didn;t read your link. But I say if his story included raping the instructor, then I’d say they were wright to act as they did. If not, than he was simply doing as told.
If the university didn’t do anything and he did assault the instructor, they’d very likely be liable. His expulsion is simply the administration covering its own ass. Regardless of whether it’s reasonable or not, it’s pretty much the only thing that could’ve happened.
As for me, if I were running a creative writing class, I’d require my students to keep it PG13. The point of the class is to develop basic fiction writing skills, and you just don’t need to write porn or really violent stuff to get there. However, that’s my opinion, and I wouldn’t force other instructors to do the same.
According to the student, “I asked (the teacher) on multiple occasions if there were topical restrictions on the daybooks, and on every occasion - often in front of other students - she told me no.” He also says he had previously submitted work with sexual subjects without problems.
So I’d say he has a legit case. The teacher had reasonable grounds to be offended by finding herself the subject of a student’s sexual fantasy. But she had left that door open. At most she should have changed her writing guidelines as a response and had the student submit a new work. If she was so distraught she couldn’t have him in her class anymore, the school should have made arrangements to transfer him to another class.
But the school went excessively in the other direction. Not only was the student expelled from the class for doing something he had been told was acceptable, he was also expelled from the school itself.
This is the kind of thing where the creative writing aspect of it is pretty much irrelevant; of course creative writing subject matter should not be censored per se but if he had creatively written atomic secrets he should expect to have issues; if he writes like a sad bugger pervert then he should expect to have issues.
Little Nemo gives some good mitigating factors that may mean he should be allowed to stay doing the course. They are very strong, actually. But they are only that, mitigating factors - and if the prof feels uneasy about teaching him then she certainly shouldn’t be made to. Maybe he can be transferred to another courst, but on a short lease.
The school’s (and even to some extent the prof’s) reactions are so strange that I strongly suspect we’re not hearing everything about this story. My guess is that his “participation” in class–especially after the incident–was actionable. Total WAG though.
The guy was an honor student up to that point. I doubt he was writing sleezy porn with no redeeming literary value.
Is Erica Jong a sad pervert? How about Swinburne when he wrote “Sapphics?” Erotic literature is just as legitimate as any other kind, and suspending this student is no more acceptable than it would be to suspend Der Trihs if his essay offended the Jesuit teaching his comparative religion class, because freedom of speech and academic freedom are freedom to be offensive. No one’s going to try to shut you up if no one’s offended.
There is a large difference between a purely artistic creative work by a person working under their own initiative and a piece of work turned in by a student as part of a class assignment. And sexually charged commentary is different than sexually charged commentary directed at the professor.
The student may have violated whatever policies the school has regarding sexual harassment or creating a hostile environment. Really, does anyone think this was just an innocent mistake on the part of the student?
What surprises me about it, though, is that (as we have the story anyway!) he was given instructions which logically entailed that writing erotica about the instructor was permissible.
But as I said, I strongly suspect a case of not having the whole story.
I have no problems with the teacher changing the rules. I just object to the teacher making a rule against something the student had already written and submitted and then punishing him for breaking that rule.
I’m not reading that entire journal, but just page two is bizarre.
“I’m paying you to kick my ass into a better writer as long as we view student/teacher as patient/teacher I think we’ll be fine. Perhaps confessor/priest?” Then goes on to say he’ll indicate the quantity of wine hes drunk and the time and institute a no page tear out rule.
He’s decided he’s going to dictate the terms of their relationship, but since he’s paying her thats ok, the inappropriate stuff he’s about to write will make him a better writer. Of course a creative writer teacher put on the spot in front of the class doesn’t feel the need to say, "how bout not writing Penthouse Letters involving me’.
There’s no way to construct a single set of clear-cut rules in advance to cover every possible type of objectionable writing without stifling creativity. Essentially, there’s an unspoken “don’t be a jerk” rule in situations like this. The journal entries are not merely works of art, they’re also elements of the social contract that exists between the teacher and all the students in the class, and if you write something so transgressive that it violates that contract, you shouldn’t be surprised if there are consequences.