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In March, State Senator David Petersen, R-Mesa, introduced a bill in the Arizona Legislature that would force state universities to provide students with a detailed description of each course's content. Petersen drafted the bill after receiving a letter from the parent of a University of Arizona student who complained that the course syllabus for her daughter's "Women in Literature" class failed to depict the actual content of the class. Melanie Sahli said her daughter withdrew from the class earlier this semester because the class was "contrary to her moral and religious upbringing," because it dealt with gay and lesbian issues.

Last Monday, UA interim Provost Michael Gottfredson issued a message regarding syllabus content to university deans, directors and department heads. In that message, he suggested that school officials consider adding an element to every syllabus to identify content that might rub some students the wrong way.

"Right now there are seven criteria that professors fill out for course descriptions," said Vern Lamplot, UA associate director of news services. "Gottfredson is asking the undergraduate council -- a body of the faculty senate -- to consider an eighth element that would provide notification of course content that may be deemed objectionable by some students."

Not everyone thinks syllabus reform is a good idea. UA alumnus Sidney Lippman said, "It's outrageous that the legislature would attempt to curb the freedom of expression that's essential" to the college classroom. Lippman suggested that putting warning labels on course descriptions could have the end effect of controlling academic content, because professors planning to teach subject matter that merits a warning label might drop the content to avoid controversy.

Now that's one way to take the liberality out of liberal arts education.
salon.com | April 7, 1999

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