University of Milano-Bicocca Suspends Dostoevsky Class, Then Backtracks

Putin's crime, Dostoevsky's punishment. Well, he's dead, maybe the students' and teacher's punishment.

From Newsweek (Khaleda Rahman):

Italian writer Paolo Nori posted a video on Instagram on Tuesday saying he had received an email from officials at the University of Milano-Bicocca, in Milan, informing him of the decision to postpone his [four-session course on Dostoevsky] following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

"Dear Professor, the Vice Rector for Didactics has informed me of a decision taken with the rector to postpone the course on Dostoevsky," the email said, according to Nori's video.

"This is to avoid any controversy, especially internally, during a time of strong tensions." …

Matteo Renzi, Italy's former prime minister who is now a senator for Florence, tweeted that it was "insane" to prohibit studying Dostoevsky because of the actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin….

On Wednesday, the university released a statement on its social media accounts confirming the course would go ahead.

Glad that cooler heads seem to have prevailed, though Italian journalist Alessandra Bocchi reports that "it appears that the professor who sounded the alarm is going to get reprimanded for speaking out."