5 most politically biased courses of 2018
In 2018, students at college and universities across the country had thousands of courses from which to choose. A handful of those classes, though, caught the attention of Campus Reform because of their politically biased nature.
In continuation of our 2018 Year In Review roundups, here are the five most politically biased courses of 2018.
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1. Harvard Law offering class on Trump ‘impeachment and removal’
In March, Campus Reform reported on a Harvard Law course focused on “how we might expect the Constitution to constrain Trump’s execution of his powers and duties, and what #impeachment and removal by other means might resemble in the Trump era.”
The course, “Constitutional Law 3.0: The Trump Trajectory,” was taught by Laurence Tribe, an outspoken critic of the president. Tribe has written several op-eds and recently released a book titled “To End a Presidency: The Power of Impeachment” on his disdain for the current administration.
2. SDSU offers course on removing Trump from office
San Diego State University also offered a for-credit criminal justice course on removing the president from office called “Impeachment, Removal, and Special Counsel.”
Students studied “grounds for impeachment, removal, or indictment,” such as “conflict of interests, foreign emoluments, climate change, racism, religious bias, improper influence, nepotism, and a host of crimes, including conspiracy, false statements, and obstruction of justice,” according to the course description.
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3. University of Illinois defends new ‘Trumpaganda’ course
This fall, the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign offered a class on Trump’s “disinformation campaign” and “running war” against the media.
The journalism course, “Trumpaganda: The war on facts, press, and democracy” focused on the President’s rhetoric against the “fake news” media and the unique relationship he has with the press.
4. UMaine ‘bars’ prof who set up anti-Kavanaugh DC trip
The University of Southern Maine (USM) received national criticism in October after emails surfaced showing USM employees discussing a “pop-up” course offering tuition-free credit to students willing to travel to Washington, D.C. to protest against then-Supreme Court Justice nominee Brett Kavanaugh.
Following public outrage over the partisan credit offering, USM officials released a statement claiming that the school never formally approved the course. Rather, officials claimed that the “hastily arranged” trip was organized by a “rogue” retired professor. Once notified of the course’s existence, officials pulled the credit offering and ensured that no public funds were being used to support the trip.
A Campus Reform investigation later revealed, with documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, that the course was offered twice, contradicting USM’s claim that the course was “hastily arranged.” Documents also showed that the course was not just the act of one “rogue” professor, but rather a coordinated effort between several professors and administrators at the college.
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5. Harvard Law course looks at ways to ‘push back against’ Trump strategies
In October, Campus Reform reported on yet another Harvard Law course being offered for students to “explore ways of using constitutional law and politics to push back against those strategies” of President Trump and Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
“This seminar will assess the challenges for democracy under law, for human rights, and for fact-based government posed by the successful strategies of [Sen. Mitch] McConnell, Trump, and Kavanaugh — and will explore ways of using constitutional law and politics to push back against those strategies,” the description of the class, “Strategies for Defending Constitutional Democracy Under Stress,” reads.
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