Introduction

Jonathan Hight is a moral psychologist and professor at New York University. In his new book, The Coddling of the American Mind, he talks about how good intentions and bad ideas are setting up a generation for failure. We discuss some examples from university life where political correctness has seeped into campus life. One example involves Columbia University's core curriculum which features a course called Masterpieces in Western Literature and Philosophy. It presents texts like Ovid, Homer, Dante and Montaigne. Four students wrote an essay arguing that many texts in the course contain,. quote, triggering material that marginalises student identities in the classroom.