ABSTRACT
Unpacking accepted truths is our reason for existing. Many students are unaware of this when they enter, coming, as many do, from homogeneous communities where the “truth” is never questioned. We discuss topics our students consider sensitive all the time. The university is the one place in society where we examine sensitive topics and dangerous ideas. Whether the topic is group differences in intelligence, the existence of race, animal experimentation, birth control and abortion, UFOs, conspiracy theories, radical ideologies, nationalism and patriotism, literature that portrays child abuse, art that addresses taboo subjects, music that forces us to listen hard, or the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan, some students will have strong reactions. The challenge is to seize the teachable moment that conflict and emotional reactions engender.
