US professor Erika López Prater (42) carefully prepared her students for the fact that she would show a picture of the Prophet Mohammed in her course. Nevertheless, she is now fired from her job at Hamline University in St. Paul (Minnesota).
The work from the 14th century showed them according to the „New York Times“ as part of her course on global art history. In addition to the Islamic prophet, the students also got to see an image of Buddha.
According to the newspaper’s report, López asked Prater her students first to contact her with any concerns. Nobody reported. On the day of the presentation of the work, she told the students that the image of the Prophet would be covered in a few minutes. Anyone who wants to go can do so.
Then López showed Prater the picture – and lost her teaching position.
The professor taught at Hamline University in St. Paul (Minnesota)
“Blasphemy” – students later complained
Reason: A student from the course later complained to the administration. Other Muslim students not attending the course supported her. The lessons are an attack on their religion, they claimed – and demanded consequences. Because: Many Muslims always regard images of the Prophet as “blasphemy”.
The university administration then evaluated the incident in an e-mail to students and teachers as clearly Islamophobic. López Prater was informed that their services would no longer be needed in the coming semester.
Do you think the expulsion is correct? App users can access the survey here.
And: The president of the 1,800-student private university co-signed an email that said respect for Muslim students “should take precedence over academic freedom.”
The professor’s expulsion caused wild debates in the USA. Speaking at a town meeting, a Hamline University religion professor said: “There are many Muslim scholars, experts and art historians who don’t believe that was Islamophobic.”
A Muslim speaker countered that there are extremist fringe voices on every issue. He also assessed the actions of the professor as such. Then he tried an absurd analogy: “You can teach a whole class why Hitler was good.”
The fact is, however, that the work is regularly discussed in art history seminars.
The renowned writers’ association PEN America criticizes: “If these reports are correct, Hamline University has committed one of the most egregious violations of academic freedom in recent memory.”