Archaeology students given ‘mummy’ alert

‘Infantilisation’ of British universities criticised as disclaimer follows others in theology and literature

UNDERGRADUATES on an archaeology course have been warned they will be shown images of “human remains” and funeral rituals during their lectures amid fears they could cause them upset.

The University of York has included several “content warnings” to prepare students on courses where they will be shown the remnants of our ancestors.

Those embarking on the university’s “mummification” module, for example, have been told that lectures will contain images of dead bodies and human skeletal material.

It is unclear whether students opting to study the ancient Egyptian practice of preserving the body after death – by drying or embalming the flesh – had been surprised by the course content.

Alan Sked, emeritus professor for the department of international history at LSE, said it was yet another example of the “infantilisation of British universities”, which he added “clearly continues apace”.

“Not so long ago Glasgow University warned its theology students that a course on Christ ended with a violent episode called the Crucifixion,” he said.

The notion that mummification was exclusively the preserve of ancient Egyptians is also eschewed in the course description at the University of York, which challenges misinformed undergraduates to “think again”.

“Artificial and natural ways of preserving human bodies have been used throughout the past and around the world,” it said, adding that the course teaches “different methodologies” in preserving the dead “employed in Ancient Egypt and South America”.

Budding archaeologists were alerted to the potential for “frequent discussion of funerary treatments for the dead” while students who enrolled to study another module on “themes of violence and conflict within world archaeology” were told their lectures would contain images of bodies and “frequent discussion of extreme and ritualised violence”.

Ancient cadavers and violence were not the only things signposted to potentially vulnerable students.

A first-year course in archaeological theory warned that lectures would include the discussion of “political discourse”, while third-year modules on death and DNA included discussion of treating deceased people and disease symptoms.

Prof Sked said: “At this rate all history students should be warned that most history books are likely to include bloody episodes of war or revolution.

“Indeed, all students should be warned when arriving at university that books and lectures may — alas only may, in today’s intellectual climate — contain dangerous things called ideas, although for their own protection, controversial ones will be banned”.

The Daily Telegraph has contacted the University of York for comment.

Universities have come under fire in recent years for issuing trigger warnings on a series of topics, including Harry Potter and Jane Austen.

JK Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone is among the texts studied in the “Approaches to Literature” module offered by the University of Chester’s English department, where undergraduates were asked to “get in touch” if they have “any issues with the content” of the course.

The warning said: “Although we are studying a selection of young adult texts on this module, the nature of the theories we apply to them can lead to some “difficult conversations” about gender, race, sexuality, class and identity.

Similarly, English literature undergraduates at the University of Salford, where Austen is on the reading list, were furnished with the following disclaimer: “There are scenes and discussions of violence and sexual violence in several of the primary texts studied on this module.

“Some students may find the content of the following texts distressing.”

‘At this rate history students should be warned that most books are likely to include bloody episodes of war’