When All You Have is a Hammer: Supplementing Trigger Warnings with Critical Pedagogies and Reflection

• In Event: Overcoming some of the hurdles that the pool of teaching applicants must overcome

Abstract

Trigger warnings, or warnings about the contents of media that might be difficult for some audiences, have been the subject of much debate, especially as students advocate for policies that would require instructors to provide trigger warnings in their classes. Advocates for warnings frame them as a matter of equal access to education, while their critics claim that trigger warnings stifle free speech and academic freedom. However, as students advocate for warnings, they are making the case that the classroom not recreate oppressive conditions that exist within society like sexism and racism. This paper uses a high school sexual assault prevention education program as a case study to discuss additional tools instructors can use to avoid replicating oppressive structures within society. This paper advocates for use of classroom ethical reflection and critical pedagogies in addition to trigger warnings and uses the sexual assault prevention program to demonstrate this approach.

Author

• Victoria L. Dickman-Burnett, University of Cincinnati