The Universities of Bristol and Nottingham have reportedly banned words like ‘humanity’ and ‘millennial’ to avoid causing offense to the campus – while replacing terms like ‘manpower’ with ‘personnel’.
Woke up heads of Russell Group schools fear the everyday expressions contribute to stigma and may have negative associations, reports the Sun†
In Bristol, students and teachers reportedly should replace the word ‘crew’ with ‘stationed’, while ‘healthy’ people should now be referred to as ‘non-disabled’.
The 146-year-old university, which counts stars like Simon Pegg, David Walliams and Matt Lucas as an alumni, has also asked to avoid generational nicknames like “boomers” and “millennials.”
As part of the style guide, ‘humanity’ should also replace ‘humanity’, while ‘personnel’ should be used instead of ‘manpower’.
In the writing style guide on her website, under “specific terminology” it says: “Avoid using generational labels whenever possible (“Generation X,” “Baby Boomers,” “Millennials”).
“These can reinforce negative stereotypes, and the terms are not easy to understand, especially by an international audience.”
At the University of Bristol (pictured), students and teachers should reportedly replace the word ‘crew’ with ‘stationed’, while ‘healthy’ people should now be referred to as ‘non-disabled’
Meanwhile, at Nottingham University (pictured) expressions like ‘the request fell on deaf ears’ or ‘blind spot’ are now considered unattainable because they may ‘associate limitations with negative things’
It adds: ‘When you write about people in older age groups, the term ‘older people’… ‘elderly’ is generally preferred.”
Meanwhile, in Nottingham, expressions like ‘the request fell on deaf ears’ or ‘blind spot’ are now considered unattainable because they may ‘associate limitations with negative things’.
Words like ‘lame’ and ‘dumb’ are now also discouraged.
Bristol Uni agrees, as the style guide states: ‘Avoid slang that associates disability with a negative quality, such as ‘falling on deaf ears’, ‘turn a blind eye’ or ‘the blind guide the blind’.’
Tory MP Nigel Mills told The Sun: “Free speech is really at risk because of these ridiculous ideas.”
Both universities have been approached by MailOnline. Bristol declined to comment.
It comes after York University was ridiculed last month when it issued a trigger warning on one of its archeology courses — alerting students that they might see images of human remains.
The bizarre flag was placed on the Communicative Archeology module that will start in September.
Department heads threatened to be accused of patronizing his budding Indiana Joneses about the warning content certainly expected at a rate of its nature.
The module – led by Dr Colleen Morgan – is described as ‘providing the skills needed to communicate archaeological research to a variety of audiences’.
But it warned potential students: “Content Warning: This module occasionally shows images and videos of human remains.”
MP Andrew Bridgen – who previously opposed the little-needed trigger warnings and censorship – said it was absurd.
The Kemune archaeological site in the dried-up area of the Mosul Reservoir, where archaeologists toiled to excavate the urban center of the once-lost Mittani Empire
York University’s trigger warning about the possibility of seeing photos of remains
He told MailOnline, “If the archeology students are concerned about seeing human remains, maybe they should have considered a different subject.”
The course and its contents are stated in the module description for the coming academic year.
It states: ‘The Communication Archeology module takes students through the history of visual interpretation and diffusion in archaeology, exploring illustration, photography, maps and more up-to-date methods in digital archaeology.
‘Students will look critically at representations of archeology and create their own visual media.
“We will look at best practices across multiple audiences and consider ethics, accessibility and technology challenges.
“Students will be encouraged to rethink and improve the messages archaeologists convey to the academic and general public.”
It was the latest in a series of university trigger warnings that have been ridiculed.
The University of Chester issued a content warning to students who read JK Rowling‘s first Harry Potter book about ‘difficult conversations about’ sexrace, sexuality, class and identity’.
The English department sounded the horn for freshmen on the Approaches to Literature module, led by Dr Richard Leahy.
The university did not respond to MailOnline’s request for comment on the alert
It even said they could voice their concerns to him if they had “problems” with the topics discussed.
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is one of the three regular literary texts on the course, alongside Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games and Philip Pullman’s Northern Lights.
The trigger warning MailOnline sees tells students: “While we study a selection of texts for young adults in this module, the nature of the theories we apply to them can lead to difficult conversations about gender, race, sexuality, class and identity. †
‘These subjects are treated objectively, critically and above all with respect. If anyone has any problems with the content, please contact the module leader to let them know.’
It comes after JK Rowling’s views on transgender rights have seen her criticized from some quarters.
A number of schools have distanced themselves from her and in some cases have even removed her as a house name.
York University has not responded to a MailOnline request for comment on the archeology trigger warning.