“Trigger Warnings” for UCSB Classes

UCSB professors may soon be required to include “trigger warnings” on course syllabi. The student senate recently passed a resolution that would allow students to miss class without penalty if content presented and discussed could trigger the onset, in a student “diagnosed or undiagnosed,” of post-traumatic stress disorder. The requirement is not intended to censor content or restrict academic freedom, said proponents, but for the university to take a “stronger stance” with sexual harassment and violence issues. The timeline for it to become campus policy ​— ​the Academic Senate must approve it ​— ​is still unclear.