Female professor fired for showing Prophet Mohammad’s painting in class in the US

Hamline University

Washington (USA) – Erica Lopez Prater, Professor of Art History at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota has been fired for showing students a 14^th-century painting of the Prophet Mohammad in class that irked the Muslim students. This incident stirred controversy in the US. People are demanding a thorough investigation into this matter.

US: Liberal arts professor fired for showing Muhammad paintings, President of varsity says respect for Muslim feelings should supersede academic freedom

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1. According to the New York Times, before showing the picture Professor Erica Lopez had already said that if anyone has a problem with it, they can leave. However, students remained in the class, saw the painting, and later complained about Prof. Erice Lopez.

2. Prof. Erica said that she knew before the whole incident that showing the picture could hurt the feelings of Muslims. That is why she had already told the class that some paintings of Gautama Buddha and Prophet Mohammad would be shown in the art history course and not a single student objected then.

3. Christiane Gruber, associate professor of Islamic Art at Michigan University told BBC that many images of Mohammad from the 1300s were intended only to be viewed privately, to avoid idolatry.