Jim Carmichael and Fred L. Horton: A course’s legitimacy

We were moved by Professor Neel Ahuja’s Sept. 20 Point of View “Distorting the study of 9/11” about backlash against his course “Literature of 9/11.”

Accusations of lack of “balance” in Ahuja’s course are, according to the principles of the American Association of University Professors, beside the point. Academic freedom means that professors have the right to teach courses as they see fit. The marketplace of ideas would have no meaning if every “vendor” were expected to provide the same wares.

The faculty offer an array of perspectives. The legitimacy of a course lies in the professor’s expertise, not in an audience’s acceptance or rejection of the ideas.

Discomfort often goes along with learning at the college level; students may well learn to question assumptions and views of their youth. As students grapple with new material, they learn to think, evaluating what is useful for their lives and who they become.

In the case of Ahuja’s course, it appears that students aren’t experiencing discomfort. Only those who have never spent a minute in the class and imagine what goes on there are.

This story was originally published October 5, 2015 at 5:26 PM with the headline "Jim Carmichael and Fred L. Horton: A course’s legitimacy."