UEA included 'extremist' website on reading list

Understanding neoliberalism and Islamism "have never been more important", the UEA states in its course literature

A student has been questioned by police after accessing an "extremist" website found on his course's reading list, it has emerged.

The University of East Anglia undergraduate had followed a link to the page from the "course materials" for a politics module.

It has since removed the link, but said "legitimate academic study" was key to countering extremist causes.

Police confirmed they spoke to the third-year, but took no further action.

"Officers were satisfied this was not a deliberate act and words of advice were given," a spokesman added.

The Clash of Fundamentalisms course, which "examines the clash between competing ideologies of neoliberalism and Islamism", is available to a maximum of 18 students in the autumn semester.

UEA's student newspaper Concrete quoted a "shocked" student on the course, who said: "People need to be allowed to learn about this stuff in order to know they disagree with it."

In September, a postgraduate student in counter-terrorism received an apology from Staffordshire University after concerns were raised when he was seen reading a book called Terrorism Studies.