In Context: 5 Web Perspectives On A Story In The News

Student-instructor relationships

(University World News) Writer Paul Rigg fleshes out questions about student-instructor relationships, in light of a recent case involving a law student and a human rights professor at Britain's University of Warwick. Although Professor Istvan Pogany followed what many would call 'the rules,' and told the school about his relationship with a student in her 30s, the situation has come under much scrutiny. The student became pregnant, and went through widely-reported mental suffering after aborting the baby, whom some bloggers speculate she wanted to keep. Rigg looks at "whether intimate relationships between academics and students should be more strongly discouraged, or even prohibited." He speculates that policies requiring academics to reveal any intimate relationships they have with students are growing. And he predicts they will continue to grow, especially with a recently released Hollywood movie dealing with this topic.

1.

Movie may stir controversy

Trailer for 'Disgrace'
This YouTube video shows a trailer for the movie 'Disgrace', starring John Malkovich. The movie is based on J.M. Coetzee's book, also called 'Disgrace', and is the story of David Lurie, a professor in his 50s at a South African university. Lurie is a divorced man who engages in an intimate relationship with one of his students, which later leads to a charge of harassment. Forced to resign, Lurie moves to the Eastern Cape to stay with his daughter, where things become more complicated as he is wrapped up in racial politics. In the above article, Rigg pondered, "To what extent does this character's experience mirror real-life situations in universities? Has this scenario become more or less likely in recent decades?" He also noted that Manola Makhanya, Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University of South Africa, couldn't recall any academics, out of a staff of 2,500, being fired due to involvement with a student.

2.

Was the Warwick affair consensual or not?

Consideration of a consensual affair at Warwick University
This is from the Dankprofessor's Weblog, written by Barry M. Dank. He blogs about sexual politics in higher education, with a focus on "the attempted repression of student-professor consensual sexual relationships." Dank taught sociology at California State University, and is presently married to a former student. Here Dank examines the situation at the University of Warwick and questions the common reaction to assume abuse or assault played a role. He explores the inevitable ways a relationship can end. "I think we all know that love affairs can have rather bitter endings ...  on the other hand, I think we all know that there are love affairs that last for a lifetime." Dank questions what it is exactly that the University of Warwick claims it needs to reconsider in its stance on student-instructor relationships. Dank argues that the university should have no regrets, as they have no responsibility for two adults who choose to have a relationship.

3.

What instructors can do to keep their relationships professional

Dal's guide to instructor-student relationships
This pamphlet, prepared by the Office of Human Rights, Equity and Harassment Prevention at Dalhousie University, is distributed widely around their campus. It gives tips on how to keep student-instructor relationships professional. The pamphlet states that Dalhousie University's Conflict of Interest Policy "requires teachers who are engaged in an intimate personal relationship with a student to disclose that relationship to their administrative head, and, normally, to remove themselves from any teaching, advisory or evaluative responsibility for the student." It also reminds instructors that certain behaviours can cause concern, even if they are not of a sexual nature, such as invitations for coffee alone together, personal questions, or gifts.

4.

Law professors think it's ok

Student-instructor relationships and your rights and freedoms
Workplace Prof Blog is a place for law school professors to blog on topics relating to scholarship and teaching. It is edited by three law professors from American universities. In this post, Paul Secunda looks at a review in The Los Angeles Times on a book by Paul Abramson, a UCLA psychology professor, who wrote on permitting faculty-student consensual relationships. The Times' review quotes this section of Abramson's book: "The rights to romance and to choose whom to love are as basic as the freedoms of speech and religion." Secunda feels that for the most part, this is legally true. "College professors and adult students (not K-12) have a liberty interest under the Due Process clause to engage in private sexual relationships. In the public context, this means a state employer should not interfere unless there are efficiency concerns (such as disruption of the workplace) that trump." So, much like in any workplace, unless the relationship is interfering with work, the employer should have no say in an employee's personal life, according to Secunda. He adds that this all only applies if the relationship is truly consensual, and not sexual harassment.

5.

A student's perspective on relationships with instructors

Love in the classroom
RyersOnline is the news portal for Ryerson University's School of Journalism. This article, written by five students, examines various opinions on this topic. They talk to one student who slept with her professor when she was 18. She says she doesn't regret it, but she knew it was like a trap she fell in that she shouldn't have gotten so close to. They explain that "Ryerson has no policy that explicitly forbids professors from having amorous relationships with students, so long as there’s no conflict of interest or sexual harassment." They report it's hard to know how many people are involved in these types of relationships, due to a lack of accurate statistics. One philosophy prof at Ryerson said, “There is something erotic about the relationship between student and professor,” but that sex interferes with learning, which is the priority on campus. One Ryerson student said, “It’s a free country and there shouldn’t be a law against it, as long as both parties are consenting adults.