A battle for  mankind  is taking place inside a Northern Arizona University classroom. An English major at NAU contacted an educational watchdog this week after she was penalized for refusing to use a gender-neutral term in lieu of  mankind.  A follow-up email by Dr. Anne Scott said that anyone who does not abide by the  letter or spirit  of the class must be docked for their decision. Included with class rules were several examples of what was and wasn t OK to use,  student Cailin Jefferstold Campus Reform Tuesday.  In one of these examples she stated that we could not use the word  mankind.  Instead, we should use  humankind.  I thought this was absurd, and I wasn t sure if she was serious.  Dr. Scott took one point out of 50 off Ms. Jeffers  paper and noted that the Modern Language Association is working to have gender-neutral guidelines adopted on a national level. I will respect your choice to leave your diction choices  as is  and to make whatever political and linguistic statement you want to make by doing so,  the professor wrote.  By the same token, I will still need to subtract a point because your choice will not be made in the letter or spirit of this particular class, which is all about having you and other students looking beneath your assumptions and understanding that  mankind  does not mean  all people  to all people. It positively does not. An email was sent to the entire class shortly afterward, which stated the  crucial  need to recognize that  our word choices mean a great deal and have consequences in terms of what we reveal about our assumptions about ourselves and others, and the world generally. Via: WT