Religion and Politics

A Lecturer Showed a Painting of the Prophet Muhammad. She Lost Her Job.

Vimal Patel of The New York Times reports that Hamline University fired adjunct professor Erika López Prater after she showed a painting of the Prophet Muhammad in her art history class. Many Muslims believe that Islam prohibits visual depictions of the prophet, so López Prater gave warnings to students before the class. The incident has sparked a debate about academic freedom and what constitutes Islamophobia. Mark Berkson, another Hamline professor who supports López Prater, said, “We were being asked to accept, without questioning, that what our colleague did — teaching an Islamic art masterpiece in a class on art history after having given multiple warnings — was somehow equivalent to mosque vandalism and violence against Muslims and hate speech. That is what I could not stand.”

Read at The New York Times

• Email
• Print