Academic censorship at Australia's Griffith university

When a student is deemed to have a better grasp of the truth than a teacher  -- even when the teacher is a distinguished expert in her field.  Her replacement will deprive the students of much real knowledge
                                                                                         
Griffith University has acknow­ledged that a professor, Regina Ganter, has stood down from teaching a foundation course named “first peoples” at its Gold Coast and Brisbane campuses.

This follows many Facebook posts supporting a complaint from a student that Ganter, who is non-indigenous, presented a lecture that was “racist” and “twisted”.

The lecture delivered by Ganter explored the complex history of the establishment of government reserves and church-run missions, which in many cases incarcerated indigenous people against their will.

It is a serious issue for a university professor to be accused of racism, and formal processes to investigate could be expected to follow.

But in this case the accusation has amounted to “trial by Facebook”, and after consultation with Ganter and indigenous advisers, Griffith University has decided in favour of the student’s demand that the course should be taught by indigenous lecturers.

In support of Ganter, the university has denied the accusations of racism.

The case raises wider issues that have emerged in universities during the past 30 years. What is the subject matter concerning indigenous culture that should be taught only by indigenous lecturers, and is it fundamentally different from many existing hum­anities and social science courses that focus on the broader subject of settler-indigenous relations?

Certainly, racism and its horrors must be addressed, and we need to ensure the strong presence of rich and creative indigenous voices in our universities — but not in a way that presents only a particular political message of the kind that appears to have been demanded in the complaint about the Griffith University course.

There is a risk that, in the social sciences and humanities, in the future there may be calls to teach only politically acceptable versions of indigenous history and culture. The view that, in principle, only indigenous people should be involved in teaching and research may well prove to be inappropriate and unproductive.

Where do we draw boundaries around who can teach and study particular topics? Is it only on the matter of race? Is it religion, ethnicity and gender as well?

At the least, if a course solely promotes only one perspective, this needs to be made clear to enrollees and distinguished from a more comprehensive approach to understanding the legacies of col­onialism.

The initial student complaint about the Griffith University course included the assertion that it was “cooked”, implying that the subject matter was fabricated. In the face of such criticism that is now so easy to distribute globally through social media, academics deserve support from all who are committed to independent teaching and research inquiry.

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