This news really bothers me. I wasn't there in the Remedies class that Birmingham was teaching when he showed the film clip, so I don't know the full context--and I haven't seen the clip. Based on the info reported, however: does offending some women disqualify a person from teaching feminist legal theory? I should hope not. Women (and men) who call themselves feminists offend each other all the time. We are fractious, like any social movement. We don't all agree, and part of what feminism is all about is allowing social space to be different without automatically dichotomizing differences into better/worse (masculine/feminine). I would much rather engage a man interested in feminist dialogue than shut him out for a perceived misstep! Hope others feel the same. Hope UConn law women feel the same. If any of you are reading, could you shed more light on this story?

This really bothers me as well. Again, with the qualifier that I am not a student at UConn, nor was I present in the class, etc. But generally speaking - I think that there are a lot of tough topics out there that a lot of people fear acknowledging because of repercussions such as this.

Life is full of discomfort and realities that many of us would rather not face - but this doesn't mean we should pretend they don't exist. Often discomfort, anger, and disgust are the breeding ground for important dialog. A professor who asks you to defend a position you find reprehensible is a professor who is challenging you to undertake a thought process which will help you advocate for the position you do support.

I could say a lot more on the subject but I will leave it at this. When it comes to suspending professors who offend or cause discomfort - I think that there is a huge difference between the conduct of the prof at UConn and that of the NYIT prof discussed here (nylawyer).