After the University of Chicago sent a letter to incoming students informing them that the classroom is no place for trigger warnings, a debate about their use has reverberated within academe and beyond.
One thing has been made apparent through these often fierce arguments: In the phrase "trigger warning," people often see what they want to see.
To help bring the debate down to earth, The Chronicle informally surveyed faculty members to see how and when they issue trigger warnings in their classes. Here are three professors who say they use the pedagogical tool to both consider their students’ pasts and deepen the conversation about emotionally charged subjects: