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Is Plato woke? Texas A&M professor speaks out after being banned from teaching the Greek philosopher

Statue of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato at the Academy of Sciences, Humanities and Fine Arts, Athens, part of the Neoclassical trilogy by Austrian architect Theophil Hansen, capital of Greece on 11 January 2023. (Martin Bertrand/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images)
Martin Bertrand/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images
Statue of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato at the Academy of Sciences, Humanities and Fine Arts, Athens, part of the Neoclassical trilogy by Austrian architect Theophil Hansen, capital of Greece on 11 January 2023. (Martin Bertrand/Hans Lucas/AFP via Getty Images)

Texas A&M University has stopped one of its professors from teaching Plato’s “Symposium” in his philosophy class. The Greek philosopher’s writing explores themes of sexuality and gender, making it susceptible to the university’s new rules adopted in November that ban the teaching of “race and gender ideology”.

Martin Peterson is the professor who has not been allowed to teach Plato. He joins Here & Now‘s Indira Lakshmanan for more on his concerns about what this means for his students.

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2026 WBUR

Here & Now Newsroom