freckles_and_doubt: (Default)
Freckles & Doubt ([personal profile] freckles_and_doubt) wrote2017-10-03 10:01 am

curiously enough, the only thing that went through the mind of the bowl of petunias

I have just had my second English lecture shut down by student protesters, right in the middle of a particularly pithy bit about postcolonial readings of Frankenstein. We were deconstructing a white British nineteenth-century novel in terms of its representation of marginalised racial identities, what the hell more do the protesters want? I did a quick poll of the class, revealing an overwhelming majority in favour of continuing the lecture, so I tried, possibly foolishly, to continue lecturing over the slogan-chanting and light-flicking. This endured for another few minutes, but narked the little buggers enough that one of them hauled out a fire extinguisher and threatened the front rows, at which point I decided discretion was the better part of valour and shut down the lecture.

I am seething. The ringleader was the little shit whose curriculum woes I spent half an hour patiently deconstructing last week. I'm buggered if I'm doing that again, I think I'm within my rights to refuse further advice sessions on the grounds of the threatened violence. I am surprisingly shaken by the whole thing, actually. Tea is helping. As is the revelation via the class poll that the protesters' popular support has eroded to the point of almost non-existence. That mandate, I do not think you have it in the way you think you have.

My subject line is, of course, Douglas Adams: the only thing going through the mind of a plummeting bowl of petunias is, of course, "Not again...". If this is heralding a new round of shut-downs... aargh, is all I can say. Aaaargh.

(Anonymous) 2017-10-03 11:26 am (UTC)(link)
Gah. A colleague had maths disturbed today; after the protesters left, she and her students went back in and carried on. Ditto some of my students disturbed later this morning in the Leslie.A fire alarm was set off in the Leslie in 3rd, but was immediately switched off. There's almost no support, nothing can get off the ground. Let's hope it stays that way. - astrolabe_cat

(Anonymous) 2017-10-03 12:31 pm (UTC)(link)
We actually got permission to refuse him entry to the library! Looks like he didn't even try to get in this time, but I'm glad the vc or whoever realised that there's no point giving him access when he's just going to try to get us to close.
Last time he was in here (a fortnight ago) we had reps from the SRC in and apparently they were all for keeping us open, so I think he's really lacking in support now.