Leading American university removes the word 'field' because it is 'racist'

The word "field" has been declared to have racist connotations and will no longer be used in a department at a leading American university.

It will be removed from the curriculum and academic references such as "field of study" will instead be replaced by the word "practicum".

In a letter explaining the decision, the University of Southern California’s school of social work said: "This change supports anti-racist social work practice by replacing language that would be considered anti-Black or anti-immigrant in favour of inclusive language.

“Language can be powerful, and phrases such as ‘going into the field’ or ‘field work’ maybe have connotations for descendants of slavery and immigrant workers that are not benign.”

The department offers online masters degrees in social work and nursing, and doctoral programmes.

In its letter the department said it was "acting in solidarity with universities across the nation" and wanted to "reject white supremacy, anti-immigrant and anti-blackness ideologies.”

It said the decision to change "field" was made after "taking a close and critical look at our profession - our history, our biases and our complicity in past and current injustices."

The move was to "honour and acknowledge inclusion," it added.

Its aim was to train social work students who "understand and embody social and racial justice".

Some former graduates of the University of California criticised the move on social media.

One said: "I am so embarrassed at what’s happening there. I wonder how much of my money they spent on coming up with this amazingly useful change.”

A spokeswoman for the university's social work department told Fox News there was not a "list of ‘banned’ or discouraged words".

Last month, Stanford University in California identified a host of words and phrases as part of an “elimination of harmful language" initiative.

Following an 18-month consultation the university – whose alumni include Elon Musk - unveiled which should be removed from its websites and IT systems.

That included the phrase “bury the hatchet” because it appropriated “a centuries-old tradition among some North American indigenous peoples.”