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A professor shut down my question about a banned book list in 2018
It was my junior year at a state school in the Midwest. I was in a modern lit class, and we were talking about a book that had been challenged in some high schools. I raised my hand and asked if the university library had ever made a list of books they chose not to carry, maybe for similar reasons. The professor, Dr. Ellis, got very quiet. He said, 'That's not a productive line of inquiry for this classroom,' and moved on fast. After class, I went to his office just to understand. He told me, 'Those records are internal. Pushing for them can make people look for trouble they don't need.' It felt like a clear message to drop it. I never did get an answer. Has anyone else been told that asking about a school's choices is itself a problem?
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oliver_mitchell4h ago
Man, that's so frustrating. I read an article last year about a college in Florida that fought a public records request for the same kind of thing. That "looking for trouble" line is just a way to shut down questions they don't want to answer. It makes you wonder what's on the list if they're that scared to talk about it. Your professor was way out of line.
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