Saturday, December 12, 2015

Shut your political pie-hole, professor! (by anon)

Let’s say you enroll in a class where the professor has a DEFINITE political view, either to the right or to the left, AND is not shy about letting it be known.  The professor is not really interested in having his or her comments debated; they are just meant at jabs and snickers against the opposing party.  Is this right?

I have found, in general, that there are two camps of responses. (A) Students find this deplorable.  They believe that professors should remain as neutral and balanced as possible because it is not their job to try and sway students with their allegiances. (B) Students find this acceptable.  It is not the professor’s job to coddle and protect students from strong, opinionated views.  It is the student’s job to learn how to think through one’s position in light of this challenge.

Here is a student post in line with camp (A).

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I am normally not one to complain about politics because I believe that an individual will believe what he or she wants to believe and will not have their mind changed by someone ranting about how much they hate the opposing political party. The reason as to why I am bringing this up is due to the fact that I am currently in a class with a professor who constantly makes sarcastic remarks and jokes about a certain politician and the political party as a whole, but if I or anyone else would do such a thing it would be greatly frowned on. It is one thing to have a stance on either side, whether it be the democratic or republican party, but it is going too far when you bash a political party in front of your entire classroom. I just feel that something such as a political stance should be kept in closed doors unless the right place or time comes up. Politics have just always been an argument starter in my opinion, you either are into politics and are sensitive about the subject or you do not pay much attention to it at all. Like I said earlier I am normally not one to complain about things like this but when it is taking from my time to learn in class about a subject I actually enjoy, then it does become an issue for me. If it is such a big deal to talk about religion or other sensitive subjects in class that are considered “offensive” to some people, then I think that it should be against school policy to try and persuade students who to and not to vote for in the next election. In all reality by the professor constantly pushing his thought into our class session, it actually makes me want to vote for the opposite party; let school be a place for teaching the subjects we pay money for and the political debates be left outside the classroom.

5 comments:

  1. Professors are liberal a-holes.

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  2. They should be reported and not allowed to teach.

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  3. Whitewater is far more conservative then liberal. Those students need to be challenged if you ask me.

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  4. Not all professors are "liberal a-holes." It has been my experience that most professors are liberal, but also most of them do not push their political agendas onto their students. I think it should be okay for professors to share their political opinions when asked or when the topic is brought up, but they shouldn't be spending the time they are supposed to be teaching trying to convert students into liberals. But again, I do not think most of them actually do this.

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  5. Hmm.... I agree and disagree. I believe it is the duty of the professor to remain impartial, but political discussion and debate should be encouraged in a polite, academic setting. That should be the whole point of education--entering into a discourse with the world, and what better way than doing that than learning from and speaking to your academic peers in the safe setting that is academia?

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