Abstract
This paper will present findings from our BA/Leverhulme funded project exploring the use of trigger warnings in teaching contexts in arts, humanities and social sciences.
Trigger and content warnings are increasingly part of public space. Potentially triggering content, including that related to gender-based violence, suicide, and racist violence, is flagged for audiences on social media, in festival programmes, through pre-broadcast announcements and, albeit unevenly, at academic conferences such as MeCCSA. This has raised questions about how to prepare students for potentially triggering content in the classroom, including in media disciplines. These questions have become more urgent in the context of Covid-19, which saw the increasing use of digital platforms and resources in teaching at the same time as students’ support networks were reconfigured, if not lost. What student-survivors actually need and/or expect in the classroom – whether on campus or online - has, however, rarely been investigated. Issues are complicated by the fact that in much public debate, trauma, distress and offence have been unhelpfully grouped together. Focusing on gender-based violence – and working in conjunction with Glasgow & Clyde Rape Crisis - this project gathers information on current practice across the UK and investigates staff and student-survivor experiences and needs, to ask what trauma informed curricula might look like.
In this paper we will report on the findings from our staff survey and focus groups with both staff and student-survivors, which are being conducted in the first months of 2023, and highlight recommendations of particular relevance to MeCCSA subject areas
Trigger and content warnings are increasingly part of public space. Potentially triggering content, including that related to gender-based violence, suicide, and racist violence, is flagged for audiences on social media, in festival programmes, through pre-broadcast announcements and, albeit unevenly, at academic conferences such as MeCCSA. This has raised questions about how to prepare students for potentially triggering content in the classroom, including in media disciplines. These questions have become more urgent in the context of Covid-19, which saw the increasing use of digital platforms and resources in teaching at the same time as students’ support networks were reconfigured, if not lost. What student-survivors actually need and/or expect in the classroom – whether on campus or online - has, however, rarely been investigated. Issues are complicated by the fact that in much public debate, trauma, distress and offence have been unhelpfully grouped together. Focusing on gender-based violence – and working in conjunction with Glasgow & Clyde Rape Crisis - this project gathers information on current practice across the UK and investigates staff and student-survivor experiences and needs, to ask what trauma informed curricula might look like.
In this paper we will report on the findings from our staff survey and focus groups with both staff and student-survivors, which are being conducted in the first months of 2023, and highlight recommendations of particular relevance to MeCCSA subject areas
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Publication status | Published - 6 Sept 2023 |
| Event | MeCCSA 2023: Connected Futures - Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, United Kingdom Duration: 4 Sept 2023 → 6 Sept 2023 |
Conference
| Conference | MeCCSA 2023 |
|---|---|
| Country/Territory | United Kingdom |
| City | Glasgow |
| Period | 4/09/23 → 6/09/23 |
Keywords
- trigger warnings
- gender-based violence
- pedagogy
- media studies
