With “triggered” as Google’s most searched word of 2016, trigger warnings have become a prevalent yet controversial concept in American higher education and society. As the debate over the value and place of triggering material continues, Trigger Warnings: History, Theory, Context provides the historical context and theoretical analysis of the use of trigger and content warnings in academia.

This important edited collection examines the history, theories, and ethics of trigger warnings and presents case studies from instructors and students describing instances when trigger warnings were and were not used.

By exploring the issue through several scholarly lenses and providing examples of when trigger warnings may or may not be used effectively, Trigger Warnings provides rigorous analysis of the controversy.

Book Website

Available for purchase: Powells * Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Publisher’s Website

Publicity:

• Trigger Warnings Ahead by Colleen Flaherty in Inside Higher Ed
• Illinois Information Sciences Professor Edits Book About Trigger Warnings by Jodi Heckel from Illinois New Bureau

Table of Contents

Introduction. On Trigger Warnings [TW Introduction Proofs]
Emily J.M. Knox

Part I: History and Theory

Chapter 1. Like Trapdoors: A History of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and the Trigger Warning
Sarah Colbert

Chapter 2. Accessibility on Campus: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Duty to Accommodate, and Trigger Warnings
Holly Taylor

Chapter 3. Contagious Speech: Mediating the Eating Disorder Panic Through Trigger Warnings
Stephanie Grey

Chapter 4. Gender Constructions and Trauma: Trigger Warnings as an Accommodation for Female Students in Higher Education
Jordan Doll

Chapter 5. Walking on the Shards of the Glass Ceiling
Jane Gavin-Hebert

Chapter 6. An “App” for That: The Case Against an ‘Equal Access’
Bonnie Washick

Chapter 7. Writing Policy About Trigger Warnings: The Experience of the American Association of University Professors and the American Library Association
Barbara M. Jones

Part II: Case Studies

Chapter 8. Institution-Wide Trigger Warnings: A Case Study of a University’s ‘Common Reading’
Joe C. Martin & Brandi N. Frisby

Chapter 9. On Privilege, Authority, and Abuses of Professional Power
Jami McFarland

Chapter 10. Trigger Warnings, Protectionism, and the Feminist Student Subject
Pinky Hota

Chapter 11. Beyond Trigger Warnings: Handling Traumatic Topics in Classroom Discussion
Kari Storla

Chapter 12. Adapting Trigger Warnings in the Introduction to Women’s Studies Course: A Case Study
Elizabeth Tolman

Chapter 13. Trigger Warning Expectations: Potential Ripples and Ramifications
Susan Stearns

Chapter 14. Lived Experiences of Military Veterans in the College English Classroom: A Case Study
Gretchen Oltman & Kristine Leibhart

Chapter 15. Trigger Warnings to Protect Learning: A Case Study in Public Speaking
Kristina Ruiz-Mesa, Julie Matos & Gregory Langner

Chapter 16. Teaching Disruptive Literature in Precarious Times: A Case Study from Library and Information Science
Davin Helkenberg