A professor who was fired for showing a picture of the prophet Muhammad said that she plans to do so again in future lessons.
Former Hamline University professor Erika Prater was fired last month after a Muslim student complained when an image of the prophet Muhammad was shown during an art history class. Prater maintains that she attached warnings beforehand and only did so for her students’ benefit and has gone so far as to say that she plans to do so again in future lessons.
PROFESSOR AXED FOR SHOWING ANCIENT PAINTINGS OF MUHAMMAD: REPORT
“I would wrap in some commentary about lessons that we have learned from this Hamline situation and again do my utmost to provide safety nets and offramps for those who chose not to engage visually,” she said during a conference with Muslim scholars called “Islamophobia vs. Academic Freedom.”
“We owe it to our students to challenge them in ways that are sometimes uncomfortable,” she said.
In October, Prater showed her classes two images of Muhammad from old Muslim art, one from the 1300s and the other from the 1500s. Muslim student organizations created an uproar after one Muslim student in the class complained, culminating in Hamline firing Prater, who had joined the faculty that semester.
At the conference on Monday, Prater defended herself by saying that the images were essential to the lesson she was teaching.
“During my class, I did give my students a heads up that I was about to show an image of the prophet Muhammad. I explained my reasons for doing so but also to demonstrate the rich diversity within the history of Islam,” she said. “Of course, in an art history classroom, images are the primary source documents that we use as evidence in order to learn about diverse cultures and thinking and attitudes.”
Hamline University originally decried her actions as “Islamophobic” but walked back the comments after Prater filed a defamation lawsuit against it, the Daily Mail reported.
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In nearly all modern sects of Islam, any and all depictions of Muhammad are forbidden. The prohibition has caused controversy in recent years as debates swirl over whether to prioritize academic freedom and free speech or respect for believers.
