When academic freedom becomes institutional irresponsibility

THERE’S a university professor who’s currently getting roasted online for saying that the ancient Romans learned shipbuilding from the ancient Malays. Personally, I think she deserves every bit of the backlash – but not for the reason most people think.

In terms of content, I don’t actually see anything wrong with what she said. Sure, her claim sounds outrageous, maybe even foolish, but since when is it a crime to believe something that you can’t prove is true? If it were, then all religions would have long been banned.