In other words, duh.
The Telegraph reports that Glasgow University has taken it upon itself to warn its theology students that in studying the Bible, they will see material that "contains graphic scenes of the crucifixion."
Mind you, these are adults or near adults who have chosen to study the Bible. This is not, presumably, because they don't know how the story ends.
The university also warns veterinary students that they will encounter and work with dead animals and that those studying "contemporary society" will discuss illness and violence. One wonders how either of those announcements could come as a surprise, unless the university has launched a campaign to focus on attracting all those prospective students who have been left behind because they live under rocks.
Glasgow University defended itself through a spokesman, who said, "We have an absolute duty of care to all of our students and where it is felt course material may cause potential upset or concern warnings may be given."
Glasgow University isn't the only educational institution taking precautions, on the off chance their students simply picked a major out of a hat, without knowing anything about the subject.
Those who have chosen to study forensic science at Strathclyde University, also in Glasgow, are warned in person "at the beginning of some lectures where sensitive images, involving blood patterns, crime scenes and bodies… are in the presentation," the Daily Mail and others report.
Surely students studying forensic science would revolt if they weren't shown gory crime scenes?
But there's more. At Stirling University, archaeology students are warned that they may find old, preserved bodies in their archaeological context "a bit gruesome."
And in the gender studies department, they've simply thrown up their hands.
"We cannot anticipate or exclude the possibility that you may encounter material which is triggering and we urge that you take all necessary precautions to look after yourself in and around the program," the university explains, per the Daily Mail.
Last year, the Independent reported on law students at Oxford University being warned ahead of potentially "distressing" lectures. Law lecturer Laura Hoyano criticized the practice, telling the Mail Online that lawyers "have to deal with things that are difficult."
"We can't remove sexual offences from the criminal law syllabus — obviously."
The trigger warning debate remains heated across the pond in the US. In 2015, a group of students at Columbia University wrote an op-ed calling for a trigger warning for Greek mythology, for example. "Ovid's ‘Metamorphoses' is a fixture of [literature humanities], but like so many texts in the Western canon, it contains triggering and offensive material that marginalizes student identities in the classroom," the four students, members of Columbia's Multicultural Affairs Advisory Board, wrote for the school newspaper. "These texts, wrought with histories and narratives of exclusion and oppression, can be difficult to read and discuss as a survivor, a person of color, or a student from a low-income background."
The University of Chicago pushed back last year, in its letter to the incoming freshmen class of fall 2016.
"Our commitment to academic freedom means that we do not support so-called trigger warnings, we do not cancel invited speakers because their topics might prove controversial, and we do not condone the creation of intellectual ‘safe spaces' where individuals can retreat from ideas and perspectives at odds with their own," Dean of Students John Ellison, dean of students, wrote.
The note was polarizing, with many applauding the university's commitment to intellectual freedom while others said he'd misunderstood humane efforts to minimize trauma.
Feminist writer and lecturer Naomi Wolf thinks concern can go too far. "Trauma from sexual or other assault and abuse is very real, and ‘triggers' are real for victims of abuse," she told the Sunday Times. "But the place to process or deal with survivor triggers is with a trained therapist in a counseler's office, and not in a classroom or university context."
