I posted this on my blog, and then realized that it would be a good thing for Dopers to discuss:
Two of my three professors have made specific reference to the election for other than test scheduling purposes.
The first (my Arabic instructor) simply encouraged us all to get out and vote without mentioning anything about either candidate. I find this not only acceptable but desirable: by all means, mention voting at every turn. People need to do it!
The second (my Syntax professor) did not stop there. There were some simple “Everybody get out and vote!” comments at the end of class, and–as I said above–good on him. But all the example sentences were quite overtly anti-Bush/pro-Kerry: “Bush should not have been elected”/“We elected Kerry”, etc. Now, I share enough views with him to support the same candidate, but I find his decision to weave such loaded opinions into a politically neutral lecture disturbing.
I’m having a hard time pinpointing exactly why this is. I suppose it comes down to his position of authority and the clear implication that anyone who saw these sentences and disagreed was delusional or perhaps just plain stupid. This attitude is wrong and insulting and above all frustrating coming from anyone; written on the blackboard, as if fact, in a forum that brooks no argument (even if you could bring yourself to take issue with what are, after all, just innocent little syntactic constructions), it’s absolutely infuriating. I wanted to jump up and shake him until his head bobbled back and forth, but…you can’t do that. I can only imagine what it must have felt like for the Bush supporters in the room (I’m assuming there were a few, though probably not many).
I’d like your input on this–was my Syntax professor in the wrong, or am I overreacting?
I’ve had 6 professors since this election really kicked into high gear. All 6 of them have claimed political neutrality. 5 have been blatantly anti-Bush/pro-Kerry (the sixth has been truly neutral, mainly because we don’t talk politics much in acting class.) I can see how they think they’re being clever in the face of a bunch of 18-20 year olds but that shit doesn’t fly over my head.
If you’re going to make a stand, make a stand. Don’t claim neutrality and then underhandedly back your candidate.
My English prof has done the same, but never claimed neutrality. She’s an “anyone but Bush” voter this time (probably voted Nader last time around). She took the time to attempt to convince the class to watch F911/Unprecedented/Outfoxed/etc, amidst a lecture.
My PolSci prof encouraged everyone to vote. She wore Kerry/Edwards pins occasionally, but other than that she did not try to convince us either way. When asked whether the extra credit for voting is dependent on the candidate, she said, “Maybe if we were in a swing state.” I don’t know if she was kidding.
Music prof - just said to vote, regardless of preference. Never mentioned politics aside from that.
Bio prof - ditto, other than expressing support for federal stem cell research funding.
I don’t recall ever having a right-leaning professor, but then again, the college has connections with Berkeley.
pas:But all the example sentences were quite overtly anti-Bush/pro-Kerry: “Bush should not have been elected”/“We elected Kerry”, etc. Now, I share enough views with him to support the same candidate, but I find his decision to weave such loaded opinions into a politically neutral lecture disturbing.
I’ve never discussed politics in front of a class, and I agree that injecting political statements into unrelated teaching material is unwarranted. It’s marginally less bad because the purpose of the sentences is technical, so you can parse them syntactically without having to address their meaning. But it’s still to some extent creating a “hostile learning environment” for Bush supporters (who are paying tuition just like anybody else, after all).
The head of my department has been wearing a Kerry-Edwards button for at least the last week. I don’t have a problem with it, because I know from experience that he’s not the kind of guy to bring up politics without a specific reason (I remember his comments the first class we had after 9/11), especially in class or when he’s acting as a professor. Of course, chemistry is pretty neutral when it comes to politics.
In any case, there are times when politics are appropriate. There are times when politics are most definitely not appropriate. Grading and class are one of those times where it’s definitely not appropriate.
I agree that professors/instructors should not insert overt socio-political-agendas into their classes; the students are a captive audience, and may be intimidated to challenge an authority figure who holds judgement power over them.
Then again, I’m also opposed to religious evangelizing and “Under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance for the same reason…
I majored in Political Science and Economics. It doesn’t bother me. I was an adult when I was in college. Many of my professors were much further to the left than I am. I took their comments for what they were worth.
I made a particular point this year to encourage the students in my first-year class to vote, while not expressing my own opinions on who I thought they should vote for. But I teach calculus. If I taught a course that was related to current events…economics or history or law or whatever…then I might just bring up my own political opinions in class.
And why not? One of the things that makes teaching at the university level more fun than teaching at the high school level is everyone, students and teacher, is either an adult or very nearly so. The students in my classes aren’t tender little babies whose minds need to be protected from all outside influence. So why should I be expected to muzzle myself if my opinions…clearly presented as my opinions, of course…are relevant to the subject matter being discussed? If the students disagree with my opinions, good! And if they can defend their own viewpoints against me, even better! That’s why they’re here, to learn how to be a thinking adults, and part of being a thinking adult is to learn how to evaluate the opinions and arguments of others without either rejecting them out-of-hand or accepting them as holy writ.
I agree that a professor’s position of authority can be abused. I should never present my opinions as fact, nor should I ever even insinuate that agreeing with me is necessary to pass my courses. Those would be flat-out lies, now wouldn’t they? But I disagree that being a responsible professor flat-out prohibits me from presenting my opinions in a classroom setting.
Assuming I taught something other than calculus, of course. I actually kind of regret that such a discussion will never, ever be relevant to finding local minima of continuous functions.
dalej and Orbifold: I meant to say in my OP (but obviously forgot) that obviously professors presenting their political opinions makes a lot more sense in some types of classes than others. Sociology, political science, economics, etc…in fact, it’s probably better that the professor at least make his or her opinion known in these cases so that bias can be detected and corrected for, should students consider such necessary.
I’m thinking more of completely apolitical subject matter, though, where a professor’s political opinion is of absolutely no relevance (straight-out theoretical Linguistics in my case, Orbifold’s Calc teaching…and there are lots more). Overt presentation takes time away from things that need to be taught; sliding it in like my Syntax prof did is pretty much an attempt to be confrontational without risking any backlash–how do you fight those sentences as examples of well-formed English? And if you can’t, then why do you have a problem? At best it’s distracting, at worst it’s intimidating.
I guess in the end there are a lot of factors involved, and it ends up coming down to the particular way in which it’s done. If I had my preference, it’d only happen in classes to which the political process is relevant, and then only very specifically presented as one person’s opinion.
The problem I have is with the more subtle influence professors can have. Not stating their opinions as opinions, but working subjective information into lectures as if it were fact. Students are in those classes to learn, and the obvious inference is that the professors know more than the students. If the professors interject their own political opinions without identifying them as such, that’s a gross misuse of their authority.
No, in order to be “neutral,” they need to refrain from pushing their opinion on the class at all, or state the pros and cons of both candidates equally.
There can be problems with a teacher who professes an obvious political bias when students start to show concern about their grades just because of their own political beliefs.
I have a poetry teacher who is strongly Pro-Kerry/Anti-Bush, and it kind of bugs me, but then again, it is a poetry class, which probably gives him a lot of leeway.
Last year I was involved in a presentation, and erronously mentioned Martha Stewart’s inprisonment in the discussion. (she hadn’t gone to jail yet at the time, but I was right in the end, so ! ). The teacher blew up at me for the statement, saying Stewart’s arrest was pure ‘sexism’ and I wouldn’t be surprised if I lost some points on the presentation just for pissing off the teacher. This was another teacher with a strong political bias and if you disagreed with her on a particular principle she would belittle your opinion to death. I suppose I should have taken it up with a higher authority, but at the time I simply wanted to pass the class. I didn’t care about being right, I just didn’t think I should have to be reduced to having some huge uphill battle to overcome some teacher’s obvious bias.
Yes, we’re all adults. But as students we are still at the mercy of the professor, and when dealing with the subjective, you are often either with the professor, or against him/her.
If you are old and smart enough to be in University you ought to be old and smart enough to think critically about information- even information presented by a teacher- and to challenge statments you disagree with. I’ve had several profs that have made their political opinions known. As long as it isn’t taking up a disporportionate amount of time (more than any other general chatter that goes on in class) and people are able to speak against it, I have no problem with it. Often, in cases of economics, social theory, history, etc. there is no way to avoid politics, and it’s impossible for a teacher to teach without expressing some opinions. You wouldn’t be a very good teacher if you didn’t think your view of the world was right! There should always be room for argument and exploration, but I refuse to accept that the big mean liberal teachers are just to scary for the poor pubbie students to speak up to.
I went to Columbia, so naturally I got a lot of far left profs. For the most part, that was a mere annoyance, not a real problem. By the time you get to college, you’re old enough to shrug off disagreements or make a stand in class. And none of the lefty professors I had ever seemed to hold my views against me or reduce my grades because I didn’t agree with them, so what did I have to complain abbout, really?
UNLESS a professor’s political slant leads him/her to teach things that just aren’t true, or to punish good students solely foor their beliefs, I’m inclined to say nothing. Profs can preach liberalism/socialism/Marxism in class, and most students can be trusted to roll their eyes and ignore them.
! ). The teacher blew up at me for the statement, saying Stewart’s arrest was pure ‘sexism’ and I wouldn’t be surprised if I lost some points on the presentation just for pissing off the teacher. This was another teacher with a strong political bias and if you disagreed with her on a particular principle she would belittle your opinion to death. I suppose I should have taken it up with a higher authority, but at the time I simply wanted to pass the class. I didn’t care about being right, I just didn’t think I should have to be reduced to having some huge uphill battle to overcome some teacher’s obvious bias.