This post was updated Jan. 11 at 8:54 p.m.
I remember reading a theory about serial killers while sitting in a philosophy class. The author stated that childhood trauma reverted their brains to a preevolutionary state where they became hardwired to kill.
When I asked if this argument is unethical to make because it is deterministic, my professor said it isn’t, so long as it is true.
Later, I looked into the theory. It was not true. But what if I’d thought it was? It would’ve introduced paranoia, even suspicion, of myself and those around me.
This is why college professors have a unique role. Especially in the humanities and social sciences, where classes explore topics like cruelty and selfishness, how a professor chooses to communicate sensitive information may determine students’ worldviews.
Professors are responsible not just for the information they convey but how they convey it. They must present sensitive material with delicacy and nuance to ensure students learn about these topics in a healthy way.
“When I teach my free will class, I open that with an account of a homicide,” said philosophy professor Pamela Hieronymi.
Hieronymi added that it is important to introduce the seriousness of the issue, but she recognizes that a homicide is disturbing to read about, so she gives a warning in advance.
Hieronymi said students learn about the homicide, then about the killer’s abusive childhood. While this example is relevant to the course’s subject matter, learning about the details of a violent crime can be triggering for students. Giving a warning ensures students are not taken by surprise, she said.
Hieronymi also said that for students who do not want to read the account, she gives them a basic summary without going into the details. Offering this alternative is necessary, as students are still able to understand the point of the information while being spared from potentially uncomfortable facts.
Steve Stroessner, a professor of communication and psychology, had a slightly different perspective.
“I’m a social scientist by training and background, and so I tend to keep my focus on providing whatever research evidence I can, and that research evidence doesn’t always paint a positive portrait of people,” Stroessner said. “But I’m describing the way people appear to be, not the way we wish they were.”
Stroessner said when someone does raise a question of morality, it is important to engage with those concerns without being dismissive of them. This is necessary, as students deserve to be given the clarity that will help them form a bigger picture.
Samantha Shon, a third-year mathematics of computation student in Vida Yao’s Philosophy 10: “Philosophy of Death and Grief,” said the class affected her positively, allowing her to be less fearful of death and instead think about the topic in a more logical manner. When professors treat sensitive topics with delicacy and care, they prove intellectual and mental benefits can go hand in hand.
“She (Yao) doesn’t necessarily push you towards a direction, which I appreciate,” Shon said. “She leaves that part up to you.”
Both Hieronymi and Stroessner, too, said it is important to allow students to come to their own conclusions regarding the material they teach.
While students should certainly be given this freedom, professors must also be conscious of how certain ideas or discoveries will affect students’ worldviews. Our minds are easily swayed by what we learn.
Hieronymi quoted physician and poet Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., saying the mind never returns to its original shape once it has been stretched by a new idea.
“You can’t unknow something once you learn it,” Stroessner added.
While these quotes may sound ominous, they both show that teaching sensitive material in a healthy manner is required for education to be a source of positive change.
Knowledge presented with sensitivity and nuance is empowering. Without these things, disillusionment is followed by despair. In the rare case the information presented is inaccurate, one finds their worldview negatively altered for nothing.
It is important that professors in the humanities and social sciences keep this in mind when teaching sensitive topics. If not, students may find themselves changed for the worse rather than the better, and knowledge may become imprisoning rather than liberating.
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