University launches investigation after clip of controversial Prof Peterson showed

[Tennis]

TORONTO — An Ontario university that has raised eyebrows among those concerned with questions of academic freedom has engaged a third-party investigator to probe an incident involving one of its teaching assistants.

Lindsay Shepherd, a graduate student at Wilfrid Laurier University, said she ran afoul of school authorities after she aired a clip in two tutorials of a debate on gender-neutral pronouns featuring polarizing University of Toronto professor Jordan Peterson.

The excerpt from TVO’s current affairs program “The Agenda” shows Peterson, who has famously refused to use gender pronouns other than “he” or “she,” defending his position against a professor who argued it was necessary to use the pronouns that a person prefers to be called.

Shepherd said she was chastised by her superiors for failing to condemn Peterson’s remarks outright and told her neutral approach to the clip was tantamount to remaining neutral on other objectionable views such as those of Adolf Hitler.

The university would not confirm what was said to Shepherd, but said it had enlisted an unidentified “neutral third-party professional” to “gather the facts” of the situation.

For Shepherd, the incident has raised fundamental questions about the purpose of a post-secondary institution.

Silencing unpopular opinions is not true to the spirit of an institution that purports to encourage intellectual exploration, she said, adding that launching a third-party investigation only reinforces that impression.

“This was an opportunity for the university to be like ’it’s true, we should be able to have a debate, we’re sorry it became an issue and we’re happy to foster debate in the university environment,”’ she said. “Instead, they’re being weird about it.”

Shepherd said the lesson to her communications tutorial class was focusing on the complexities of grammar.

Shepherd said she was trying to demonstrate that the structure of a language can impact the society in which its spoken in ways people might not anticipate. To illustrate her point, she said she mentioned that long-standing views on gender had likely been shaped by the gender-specific pronouns that are part of English’s fundamental grammatical structure.

The clip of Peterson debating sexual diversity scholar Nicholas Matte, she said, was meant to demonstrate ways in which the existence of gender-specific pronouns has caused controversy.

Shepherd said a student complained about the clip, which she showed to two tutorials of roughly 24 participants each. In response, she said her supervisors censured her for airing the clips, told her she was “transphobic” for playing them and said she ought to have spoken out against the positions Peterson expressed during the excerpt.

http://torontosun.com/news/provincia...on-clip-played

Very interesting. Sure seems like this issue is gaining more steam. Where do you stand on it?
Do you think this clip was appropriate for a classroom setting or should it not have been played if it made students feel "unsafe" ?

[Hisholyness]

I think it comes down to a vast 99% majority of people who dont give a shit and the 1% that vehemently do.

Media wants to stir up controversy no matter the side

[Molis]

I think it comes down to a vast 99% majority of people who dont give a shit and the 1% that vehemently do.

Media wants to stir up controversy no matter the side

Count me in the 99%

[HumbleDuck]

Oh, this guy. If a professor can't win an argument against this buffoon they honestly should resign.

[Independent voter]

OMG! Canada has a feminist talk show!

A real hot babe is one of the spokespeople.

I got this from the OP article.

[Kraenen]

He's just a professor who has a youtube channel and said he didn't want to be forced into PC language.

I just don't see the issue. A TA showed a video of a debate on an issue relevant to current politics, and she gets compared to aiding Hitler.

[I Push Buttons]

It was only a matter of time before the SJWs evolved beyond ruining careers for saying the wrong thing to ruining careers for not condemning people who say the wrong thing.

[Rennadrel]

"Shepherd said she was chastised by her superiors for failing to condemn Peterson’s remarks outright and told her neutral approach to the clip was tantamount to remaining neutral on other objectionable views such as those of Adolf Hitler."

Rofl what the fuck Canada.

Anyone who has listened to Jordan Peterson for even 5 minutes knows he isn't radical or hateful, he has a very reasoned approach and is very open to debate and discussion... Even if you disagree with him, comparing him to a hate monger is dishonest as fuck.

Dude, this same cesspool of neo-liberal horse shit goes on in the USA too, don't kid yourselves. It's why the Dems lost, because they were too worried about stupid bullshit like identity politics rather than focusing on the issues, even if Trump is a troll. Identity politics is exactly what will bring the Liberals down in Canada, people were fed up with that shit 9 months after Trudeau got elected.

[Dextroden]

https://twitter.com/jordanbpeterson

Just scrolled down for several minutes trying to find anything remotely "hateful" or close to alt-right.

The most I could find is anti-sjw and anti-feminist stuff... Nothing about hating trans people, nothing about hating minorities, nothing about wanting ethnic cleansing.

In for a penny, in for a pound. Even if your opinions are minor in the scope of "hate", whether they are "hateful" or not, any amount of it is forbidden and makes you a monster.

Either that or people are so desperate to find people to string up they have to scrape the bottom of the "hate" barrel.

[Oakshana]

Gods... when I read the title of this thread, I thought I was about to read an article where Jordan Peterson was under investigation for sexually inappropriate behavior with student or teachers assistant. Thank GOD that's not what this was.

That said, this is absolutely ridiculous. I mean, this investigation, and the comparison of the teaching assistant to Hitler, the very fact that anyone in any significant or serious academic institution in any country takes Nicholas Matte as any kind of credible source for ANYTHING is dumbfounding. I have seen that video multiple times and it never ceases to amaze me that he is allowed to speak anywhere.

The ONLY reason he can is from the pervasive SJW environment that has been allowed to perpetuate in today's society.

[Dextroden]

It seems more like they are trying to cut off some of the most reasonable opposition to them with the label of Nazi right out the gate.

And there's the word. Opposition. If someone is on the opposition, you oppose them. Even if the only reason they're the opposition is because they generally believe the same as you but disagree on a few things.

Trust me. I'm looking at his Twitter too if people are going to claim being indifferent/neutral to his opinions is the same as doing it with Hitler. That's an amazing claim.

[Independent voter]

OMG! That hot girl in the video? She was born a he!

[Dextroden]

It's weird being a young adult and being afraid of what the world is turning into... Usually that's a thing for old people.

It's for more than old people.

Why wait till your old when the stupid shit could be in full swing?

[Arkthugal]

Call yourself whatever you want, ya heathens, I'll still call ya what ya are.

[Theinquisition]

"Shepherd said she was chastised by her superiors for failing to condemn Peterson’s remarks outright and told her neutral approach to the clip was tantamount to remaining neutral on other objectionable views such as those of Adolf Hitler."

Rofl what the fuck Canada.

Anyone who has listened to Jordan Peterson for even 5 minutes knows he isn't radical or hateful, he has a very reasoned approach and is very open to debate and discussion... Even if you disagree with him, comparing him to a hate monger is dishonest as fuck.

well that's par for course now adays isn't it?

I mean, we have college student protestors comparing Ben Shapiro to Hitler, even though he's a orthodox Jew and a mainstream conservative.

Debate tactics 2017, call your opponent a racist, sexist, fascist, homophobe, or bigot if you disagree.

[Tennis]

He refuses to you made up pronouns (that now a crime in canada apparently) to identify snowflakes. I fail to see what makes this guy as bad as hitler.

Most people don't care about pronouns..

[Daedius]

It's things like this that make SJWs and the "left" a joke that shouldn't be taken seriously...

[Tennis]

Dude that's what this whole thing is about.

Wrong. How is it a crime in Canada?

[Incredibale]

What these people are doing re: fake pronouns is almost exactly like a certain scene from a certain sci-fi series:



When you look at the current and inevitable legal ramifications (not even counting social consequences), this reads like an attempt at breaking people by coercing them into acknowledging falsehoods as truth.

[Doctor Amadeus]

If it's just a clip, I am sure they can find the rest of it, and whether they do or don't I am sure some people's minds will already be made up regardless.

Ben Shapiro being an Orthodox jew doesn't preclude him from being a racist, or supporting anti jewish sentiments. It could be just as well a cover like anything else Alt-Right