Nottingham University is under fire after placing a trigger warning on Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales due to its “expressions of Christian faith.” Critics argue that the warning is unnecessary and undermines the educational experience by flagging content that is fundamental to medieval literature.
The trigger warning, which was issued as part of the Chaucer and His Contemporaries module, highlights themes of violence, mental illness, and religion. The decision to warn students about Christian references has left many baffled, considering the religious context of the time in which the stories were written.
The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories told by pilgrims traveling to Canterbury Cathedral, a Christian site. The tales, which were written between 1387 and 1400, include themes of lust, violence, and anti-Semitism. However, Nottingham University chose to focus its warning on the Christian faith expressed in the stories.
Frank Furedi, a professor of sociology, criticized the decision, saying it was “weird” to single out Christian faith in a medieval text. He questioned whether this was more about academics signaling their political correctness than about helping students understand the historical significance of the work.
In response, Nottingham University defended the warning, arguing that it promotes an inclusive environment for students from different religious backgrounds. The university suggested that even practicing Christians might find elements of the medieval worldview “alienating.”
Many scholars, however, feel that this approach undermines the purpose of studying historical texts. Historian Jeremy Black said the decision “demeans education” by focusing more on modern sensibilities than on teaching students about the past.