A creative writing professor at Columbia University is allegedly requiring his students to list the race and gender of any character at first introduction in their assignments, or else they risk failing his course.
Assistant Professor of Writing Matthew Salesses allegedly created a contract his graduate students need to sign in order to take his course, according to screenshots of a since-deleted Tweet posted Tuesday.
“Made my grad students sign this today because if I’m going to commit to them then they need to commit to themselves,” Salesses wrote above a photo of a document titled “Commitment to the Process,” according to a screenshot of his Tweet shared by another Twitter user. (RELATED: 130 Classes Canceled After Graduate Students At Columbia University Stop Teaching In Protest For Higher Wages)
simply one of the most insane documents i’ve ever seen posted on here pic.twitter.com/nNlTwD08Bf
— bradley babendir (@therealbradbabs) January 17, 2023
The first of eight requirements on the list says Salesses’ students must “name the race and gender of any character at first introduction,” according to the document. Salesses then listed an additional set of eight requirements, including the condition that students must not “follow the instructor on social media. Really,” the screenshot shows.
Salesses is the author of eight books, according to his official website. He wrote an article for NPR in 2014 about his experience getting a Ph.D. in creative writing and literature. “For me whenever race comes up, it feels, somehow, traumatic. While most issues in workshop are presented as universal to story, race can come off as a burden personal to writers of color,” Salesses wrote in the article titled, “When Defending Your Writing Becomes Defending Yourself.”
Salesses made his Twitter account private later Tuesday. Salesses’ agent did not respond to the Daily Caller’s request for comment regarding the document and subsequent privatization of his Twitter account by the time of publication.