EXCLUSIVE: Penn. prof teaching conservative-friendly Trump course
A Pennsylvania professor claimed that university politics and sociology fields have been “hijacked by the far left” and spoke exclusively with Campus Reform about a President Donald Trump-themed course that aims to be accepting of conservative points of view.
Lock Haven University sociology professor Kimberly Johnson created a new course to be taught in the 2019 fall semester called “Culture and Society in the Age of Trump,” according to a course flyer obtained by Campus Reform.
The course appears to deviate from previous Trump-related classes covered by Campus Reform that either show bias against the current president or blatantly teach against his policies.
Harvard University, for instance, has held courses called “Donald Trump and the Challenge to Liberal Democracy,” and “Constitutional Strategies For the McConnell/Trump/Kavanaugh Era.”
[RELATED: Harvard Law course looks at ways to ‘push back against’ Trump strategies]
Johnson detailed her motivation for starting the course to Campus Reform.
“Conservative students have told me that they wish they had a class where they could openly express themselves, particularly concerning Trump and his politics,” She said. “For me, it doesn’t matter what a student’s views are on our current president; I hope to provide an environment where we can genuinely examine what is going on in society during such turbulent times.”
Johnson explained that her course will differ from anti-Trump courses, claiming that it will instead take an objective approach.
“I want our students to understand that we can use sociological tools and critical thinking to study topics in an impartial way which interests us,” the professor said.
In a course description she sent Campus Reform, Johnson further explains how the class will tackle Trump’s election from a sociological approach.
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“Students will learn about race, class, and gender and how these important societal components were directly applicable to the presidential election and the reaction that followed,” the course description states. “This course also examines the sociological background to some of the key elements that shaped global society and culture, such as populist movements.”
When asked about Lock Haven administration’s response to the course and whether it was difficult to have it approved, Johnson told Campus Reform that although the administration leans heavily left, it understands the importance of “open-mindedness and critical thinking.”
Johnson said that the 25-student course has had a positive response thus far. She said she already has students signed up for the course and that they have expressed their excitement over the material.
The professor claimed that university politics and sociology fields have been “hijacked by the far left” and said “I would love to see [them] return to its classical days where both theory and research were objective areas of serious study. If students enroll in our sociology program at LHU, they can get a taste of that.”
Follow the author of this article on Twitter: @BrittanySlaugh5
