A grammar school has organised classes where pupils can debate Hitler's Mein Kampf and how non-Western cultures are inferior as 'an antidote to the poison of political correctness'.

Simon Langton Boys School in Canterbury, Kent, says it is creating a course called The Unsafe Space for its students to help them develop their 'free thinking'.

Sixth form pupils who sign up will be asked to look at 'the most beautifully disturbed and disturbing ideas, all of them presented without trigger warnings'.

Lectures scheduled as part of the course include the subjects 'women versus feminism' and 'not all cultures are created equal'.

The school hit the headlines last year after it cancelled a talk by ex-pupil and alt-right speaker Milo Yiannopoulos after the Department for Education’s counter extremism unit stepped in.

Simon Langton Boys' in Canterbury, Kent, says it is creating a course called The Unsafe Space for its students to help them develop their 'free thinking'

Pupils were told about the optional classes in a PowerPoint presentation given yesterday by the school's director of humanities, Professor James Soderholm.

He revealed the first session would be devoted to a controversial memo circulated by the fired Google employee James Damore, which claimed that women were innately less capable as engineers.

School head teacher Matthew Baxter says Mein Kampf - which outlined Adolf Hitler's political ideology - will not be studied, but incorporated in the 'wider debate'.

Mr Baxter says the course is designed to enable pupils preparing for university to discuss ideas outside of the conventional curriculum.

The school hit the headlines last year after it cancelled a talk by ex-pupil and alt-right speaker Milo Yiannopoulos after the Department for Education’s counter extremism unit stepped in

Prof Soderholm's comments have come under fire from some pupils who say the lectures are an attack on 'left bias'.

The name of the scheme is a play on the phrase 'safe space' - an area in which someone can feel confident they will not be exposed to discrimination, criticism, harassment, or any other emotional or physical harm.

One online commentor said: 'Surely there is no better way to undermine the ramblings of Mein Kampf, or the words of James Damore, than by debating and analysing them?

'To challenge one must first understand. Sticking your fingers in your ears and shouting 'la la la, I can't hear you', or sweeping anything 'unsafe' under the carpet isn't a healthy response, and allows hate to prosper unchallenged.'

Another said: 'An important part of history, so for better or worse, studying material like that should offer diverse extremes.

'Done right, and debated like civilized humans, it can be a powerful reminder of what went through the mind of various historical figures.'

One added: 'Read Mein Kampf for my history A-level 20yrs ago. Terrible book, badly written and rambling (much like our far right commentators on here), it was a useful read in terms of context and knowing how your enemy thinks though. Certainly shouldn't be banned.'

Last year, the school was criticised for inviting right-wing commentator and former pupil, Milo Yiannopoulos, to speak to pupils.

But the event, which was also organised by Prof Soderholm, was cancelled following threats of demonstrations at the school.

Hitler's Mein Kampf - which outlined Adolf Hitler's political ideology - will not be studied, but incorporated in the 'wider debate' to encourage free thinking

Simon Langton Boys' in Canterbury, Kent, says it is creating a course known as 'The Unsafe Space' as 'an antidote to the poison of political correctness'.

Sixth form pupils will be asked to look at 'the most beautifully disturbed and disturbing ideas, all of them presented without trigger warnings'.

Ken Moffat, head of school at Simon Langton Boys' Grammar, said the school does not censor the pupils' reading on 'challenging' subjects - introducing them to Lenin, Mao, as well as Hitler's writing.

He said: 'The phrase unsafe space is a bit of a misnomer. The Research Centre is, first and foremost, about creativity and invention.

'Don't forget, this is the school where the Institute for Research in Schools was born, where Pavegen originated and that we have a device on a satellite feeding data to CERN and NASA and a licence to modify the human genome.

'We believe in our responsibility to challenge our brightest students. We are very cognisant of our responsibility to uphold the fundamental British values and there is no tolerance of homophobic, xenophobic, racist or sexist views.

'That said, we will hear speeches by challenging speakers and read challenging texts.

'This is a voluntary part of the sixth form curriculum which students can buy into and, if they do, they can be introduced to The Communist Manifesto, Mao's Red Book, Mein Kampf and Lenin's What is to be Done? as well as other cornerstone texts.

'These are not texts we wish to protect our students from but help them to consider with proper academic guidance as ways in interpreting and understanding the 20th Century.

'The agenda is neither right nor left wing, simply free-thinking.'

The talks form part of an optional series of lectures and discussions that students can opt into as part of their sixth form course in a new purpose-built facility.