This generation of kids...

[Baron Kurtz]

I absolutely agree that politics must come up in some courses - political science, for one - and I expect there are some very heated exchanges that occur in those classes. But if your professor is, for example, an ardent liberal, and there is a conservative in the class, and the professor makes no bones about his or her absolute disdain for conservatives, how is that going to "mold" anyone's mind? To my way of thinking, it's going to entrench those very same beliefs further.

I agree with you completely, BTW. The Professor you described is doing it wrong. The idea is to convince people to think critically, to see the inequalities that are present and understand why they think how they do - sadly something that so many people are unable or unwilling to do. This is one of the major arguments ongoing in the academic field right now, as regards teaching. One of the major criticisms of critical pedagogues is that while they claim to be aimed towards breaking down barriers to critical thought, their own jargon-laden bombast is itself elitist and designed to build barriers. They decide what is "correct" rationality or criticality, they decide what is the "correct" political stance.

Thinkers in this field are yet to address these serious concerns, and sadly often fall back on the old chestnut that "well, those people who argue in this way are just insufficiently aware".

As regards politics in general - it's easier in the sciences as there are only a few "hot" topics. My first mentor (and still a major influence after his retirement) instilled in me the notion that politics should not come up in the normal science classroom - there are of course classes in the sciences that must address the political scene as it relates … students must understand these things if they want a career in sciences - but if challenged never to shy away from stating and defending one's views in a rational non-confrontational way, even in a State funded college.

Weirdly, even in science lectures - ecology 101, that kind of thing - there was a hardcore of militant students (typically but not always right wing) who felt the burning desire to scream political questions. This obsession with the notion that all academics are left wing - a banal absurdity, tbh - seems well entrenched. I think if people were to attend a party full of academics, they might be a bit shocked by the range and depth of views and relative civility of discussions, a marked contrast to the tone of general political debate.

And to pre-empt the inevitable argument with jamespowers, I don't believe you that all Californian professors are militant Marxists.

 

[Flicka]

I've certainly had professors on either sides of the political spectrum; from far left to deeply conservative. I don't think either of them broadcasted it, but it was always fairly obvious to me where they stood, just as it's fairly obvious to me where most people I've interacted with on here are even if we nominally do not discuss politics.

 

[kiwilrdg]

College radio was, and still is, nothing like the real world of commercial radio and a disservice was done to them in leading to expect that the experiences they gained there would be of much use in the real world.

That is why when I talk to college students I always stress internships and anything else they can do to really work in their chosen field. It is often easier for a person with a degree that is similar but who has related experience to get a job than for a person who has the related degree but has been working in fast food. The ideal is to get the related job and have some related experience.

Another advaltage I have noticed is that the student can also see what they are getting themselves into. I once had a new hire guy with a BS in criminal science. He quit before we even finished the tour of the jail because he was afraid of the inmates. I don't know what field he went into after that. That is extreme but it is good to know what the daily routine will be like when making career plans.

 

[AmateisGal]

I agree with you completely, BTW. The Professor you described is doing it wrong. The idea is to convince people to think critically, to see the inequalities that are present and understand why they think how they do - sadly something that so many people are unable or unwilling to do. This is one of the major arguments ongoing in the academic field right now, as regards teaching. One of the major criticisms of critical pedagogues is that while they claim to be aimed towards breaking down barriers to critical thought, their own jargon-laden bombast is itself elitist and designed to build barriers. They decide what is "correct" rationality or criticality, they decide what is the "correct" political stance.

Agreed. If they foster an environment of exchanging ideas with the intent to listen and discuss reasonably and rationally, that is the best possible learning environment.

 

[LizzieMaine]

One of the major criticisms of critical pedagogues is that while they claim to be aimed towards breaking down barriers to critical thought, their own jargon-laden bombast is itself elitist and designed to build barriers. They decide what is "correct" rationality or criticality, they decide what is the "correct" political stance.

And in doing this they do as much to set back the causes of those "oppressed peoples" they claim to be working for as do the oppressors they claim to be fighting against. Cocktail-party revolutionaries are in reality more bourgeois than the bourgeoisie.

 

[Undertow]

I found them substantially less prepared...

This was my experience as well, being in newspaper journalism.

I suppose a fitting, if not maybe a little morbid, analogy would be the young men who are rallied to war, only to find themselves in a rain soaked hole with a heavy rifle, stained pair of trousers and a cold metal cup of coffee, wide-eyed and shivering, and wondering why no one in Basic Training explained how war is hell.

 

[1961MJS]

That is why when I talk to college students I always stress internships and anything else they can do to really work in their chosen field. It is often easier for a person with a degree that is similar but who has related experience to get a job than for a person who has the related degree but has been working in fast food. The ideal is to get the related job and have some related experience.

Another advaltage I have noticed is that the student can also see what they are getting themselves into. I once had a new hire guy with a BS in criminal science. He quit before we even finished the tour of the jail because he was afraid of the inmates. I don't know what field he went into after that. That is extreme but it is good to know what the daily routine will be like when making career plans.

That's cool, degree in Criminal Justice and scared of the inmates. I stopped my kid from making a similar mistake. He was the bus boy at CiCi's pizza and made a comment about how gross it was to have to touch food that other people had in their mouth. I stopped, thought a bit, and asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up. A Dentist he said. I asked where Dentist's fingers spend a lot of time, "in other people's mouth, guess I gotta find a new job." At least this was his Sophomore year in High School. He's at least working in a bank and on a finance / accounting degree now.

Later

 

[sheeplady]

I knew a guy who went all the way through a bachelors and a masters in teaching. He lasted six months in a high school classroom. He became a trooper upon leaving. He said being a NYS trooper was far easier than handling a classroom of kids.

He also used to joke that a trooper his risk of being shot was less than a teacher too, but he was quite serious in that he felt that teaching was far more stressful and had a worse working environment than being a police officer.

 

[Chowderhouse]

Cocktail-party revolutionaries are in reality more bourgeois than the bourgeoisie.

My great-uncle used to call them Parlor Pinks. Pinks as in "pinkos", a diluted version of the Reds. In the '60s, cocktail-party revolutionaries were called the height of Radical Chic.

 

[Undertow]

That's cool, degree in Criminal Justice and scared of the inmates. I stopped my kid from making a similar mistake. He was the bus boy at CiCi's pizza and made a comment about how gross it was to have to touch food that other people had in their mouth. I stopped, thought a bit, and asked him what he wanted to be when he grew up. A Dentist he said. I asked where Dentist's fingers spend a lot of time, "in other people's mouth, guess I gotta find a new job." At least this was his Sophomore year in High School. He's at least working in a bank and on a finance / accounting degree now.

Later

Eghad! Does he know where MONEY has been? It's covered in germs!

 

[John in Covina]

Commentators will often cite that academians as a group are 80-90% left leaning Democrats. Where they get those figures i am not sure but I'd actually say most of them are actually Marxist voting Democratic by default. Hollywood however has more Silent Republicans than you would think as stated by several friends in the business, but those on the right remain silent for fear of "Never working in this town again!"

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Eghad! Does he know where MONEY has been? It's covered in germs!

As well as cocaine. It's estimated that 90 percent of US money has traces of cocaine.

 

[jamespowers]

And to pre-empt the inevitable argument with jamespowers, I don't believe you that all Californian professors are militant Marxists.

Of course not. The business professors that I came in contact with were mostly conservative but that is because business is a numbers and hard fact based area. I had a few professors who were on loan from Harvard, one who was a retired Fed official, Economists and Accountants. They had real life situations to discuss and many were fascinating to listen to as they told stories about their work and how it was out there. Professors who didn't have real life work experience were dull and couldn't exactly get me interested in a field that was so dull.
Logic, women studies, geology, english, math and several other areas were over run by militant Marxists.
My son's former public elementary school---horrible.:eusa_doh: If you graduate from there it is simply because you have marked your time---not learned anything. :eusa_doh:

 

[LizzieMaine]

Logic, women studies, geology, english, math and several other areas were over run by militant Marxists.

Marxist geology? That only works when you throw rocks at the petit-bourgeois oppressors.

 

[sheeplady]

Marxist geology? That only works when you throw rocks at the petit-bourgeois oppressors.

lol That's because there are some people who think if someone teaches evolution they're a socialist... (Seriously, I knew an evolution prof with a picture of him and Regan in his office who had a student accuse him to his face of him being a communist- because he taught evolution. Prof was a conservative and felt the republican party was too liberal, if you asked him.)

I think a high proportion of people who think that all academics are Marxists have never read the Communist Manifesto. And it's plain sad to have such an uneducated society that one of the books that is so referenced is so poorly read.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Indeed. Most of the books that civilizations and movements are based on are very rarely read in their entirety by the people who either espouse them or denounce them. The Bible is in the same category -- there are plenty of people who can selectively quote it to support some particular point of view, but as far as reading it cover to cover goes? The numbers diminish significantly, especially among young people -- even though you can't really understand the development of Western literature or, for that matter, Western civilization without understanding its role in both.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Logic, women studies, geology, english, math and several other areas were over run by militant Marxists.

The first one sounds a bit like an oxymoron.

 

[Canadian]

I have a B.A. in Political Science. There were about 8 profs in the department teaching full time.

The only red was, "Ed The Red Webking" who proudly pointed out that he was asked by Nixon to leave the USA because he was counseling his students to dodge the draft. Otherwise, some of those profs have become friends while I worked on various conservative political campaigns. In theory, a professor isn't supposed to drag his political views into the gradebook, but I am certain the reason I got low marks in Ed the Red's class is that I was willing to be a giant redneck and argue with his statements about religion, politics and popular culture. In that class it was Reagan (me) arguing with Abbie Hoffman (Ed).

 

[jamespowers]

Marxist geology? That only works when you throw rocks at the petit-bourgeois oppressors.

You never met this long haired hippie. I was referring to stuff I have been faced with out here. Obviously you are more likely to hit a Marxist out here than you are to hit anything else.

 

[jamespowers]

The first one sounds a bit like an oxymoron.

That was a funny class because we used to get him with the "almost always right" thing all the time. He wasn't shy about his ideology either. lol lol