Outlines
Part 1 of the exam question asks you to define what a university safe space is, and to give an outline of the pros and cons of university safe spaces that are presented in the three texts.
University safe spaces
A university safe space is broadly defined as a space/place on university campuses where students who feel marginalised can gather without fearing that they will be the target of discriminatory actions and attitudes.
Text 1 in your exam set, “Is university free speech under threat?” defines a safe space in the following way: “A safe space is an accessible environment in which every student feels comfortable, safe, and can get involved free from intimidation or judgment.” (ll. 21-24)
Furthermore, Text 1 also explains both the concept of “safe space” and of “no platforming” noting that:
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Pros of university safe spaces
The texts in your exam set explore some of the pros of university safe spaces.
Text 1, “Is university free speech under threat?” notes that ‘safe spaces’ and ‘no-platforming’ allow students to gather and discuss issues “without views or opinions that are deemed offensive or threatening” (ll. 12-14). The pro suggested here is that safe spaces create a feeling of security and protection for students who feel threatened or discriminated against, such as students from ethnic or sexual minorities.
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Text 2, “University student is ordered not to put her hand up...” offers a pro of safe spaces by presenting a provision from an official universal policy regarding safe spaces:
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Text 3, “I’m Northwestern’s president. Here’s why safe spaces for students are important” is almost exclusively focused on the pros of university safe spaces which are supported by two examples.
According to the author, a pro of university safe spaces is that they are necessary to avoid racial discrimination which is still present on university campuses:...
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Cons of university safe spaces
University safe spaces are also rejected by some people, the main arguments against them being that they limit freedom of speech and promote censorship. Here is how the three texts in your exam set explore the cons of university safe spaces:
From Text 1, “Is university free speech under threat?” we find out that a con of university safe spaces is that it censors freedom of speech: “free speech advocates calling ‘censorship’ ” (ll. 43-44).
The article notes that some students see safe spaces as a danger to healthy debates because they promote uniformity:
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Text 2, “University student is ordered not to put her hand up...” explores another con of university safe spaces by using a negative example. From the article we find out that a student was almost banned from a safe space only because she was trying to clear up an issue in a debate:
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Text 3, “I’m Northwestern’s president...” notes that safe spaces are “often criticised” (ll. 8-9) but it does not focus on those critiques.
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