University of Nottingham faces backlash for module’s “Christian faith” trigger warning

The University of Nottingham has come under fire after issuing a trigger warning for “expressions of Christian faith” in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.

The classical text, which centres on a group of Christian pilgrims, is well known in the subject of English Literature, particularly for its exploration of religious themes.

The university has defended the decision as being intended to inform students of the relevant module, ‘Chaucer and his Contemporaries,’ that depictions of Christianity within the text could possibly be “alienating and strange”.

The university has subsequently not provided any further response, although it has faced protests from some of its Catholic students.

Trigger warnings, such as the one applied to Chaucer’s work, are statements warning people that subsequent content could be upsetting or offensive.

Notably, the University of Nottingham has been the subject of previous criticism for alleged “Anti-Christian bias”, having paid out a student in 2020 whom the University suspended from its midwifery course over their membership of an anti-abortion group.

It must be really uncomfortable for Christians studying this module to know […] as if it is something to be ashamed of

Kate, Warwick student and CU member

The backlash from students and academics has highlighted the university’s choice to warn of unfamiliar Christian practices but neglect to warn of violent sexual content, cannibalism, and antisemitism also present within the author’s works.

Carla, a second-year Mathematics student and member of the Christian Union (CU) at Nottingham, told The Boar that she felt a trigger warning was “the wrong type of classification” for this information, as it would suggest “offensive or harmful content”. She continued that she understood the potential need for such information but struggled to understand why “expressions of Christianity” had been singled out as a triggering topic.

Similarly, Kate, a member of the Christian Union (CU) at the University of Warwick said: “It must be really uncomfortable for Christians studying this module to know that their faith has had a trigger warning issued against it by the university – as if it is something to be ashamed of.”

First-year English Literature students at Warwick study the compulsory module ‘Medieval and Early Modern Literature’. This course includes several of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.

Megan Driver, a first-year student on the module, told The Boar: “I understand why they want to draw attention to the heavy focus on traditional Christian ideologies, as this is a key theme in The Canterbury Tales. However, I find it strange that there is no mention of Chaucer’s blatant antisemitism.”