I’m taking a class this semester with a professor described as a “liberal maniac” on RateMyProfessors.com, and I can definitely see where the author is coming from. On the first class day he basically (and I may be exaggerating) praised President Barack Obama as being the savior of our economy and our messenger back to world domination.
Few seemed to notice the comment from the monotone delivery, but I certainly did. His viewpoints may not necessarily match my own, to say the least, but I don’t really have an issue with it. Whatever box he checked on Election Day has no effect on me, but what I do have an issue with is that his opinions have filtrated into the classroom.
Whether or not you’re a regular listener of Rush Limbaugh or scoff at the thought of the Tea Party, it’s probably easy for you to guess which activity your professors would rather be doing.
I’m not going to discriminate either. If this professor had been praising the Bush administration or denouncing the health care bill, then I would’ve felt the same exact way.
Bias should be kept out of the classroom regardless of the intentions. This situation would be unlikely, however, considering that according to a report in the Washington Post — 82 percent of Virginia Tech’s faculty and staff donated money to the Democratic Party in the 2008 election. If that doesn’t demonstrate a lack of political diversity, I don’t know what does.
In this class, which shall remain nameless, we have already read several books this semester. Whether it was about the recession or the shift towards China being a great world power, the arguments have been completely one-sided. I’m not going to deny that I have learned quite a bit from the reading, I’ve even enjoyed them quite a bit, but it isn’t right to only show one side.
As cliche as it may sound, college is all about finding yourself and formulating your own opinions and thoughts. This is hard to do when professors don’t accept differences and welcome them into their lecture halls.
I would like to hear the background from both sides before I pick one, not have it forced down my throat. I know it is nothing new or shocking that my professor would have a clear liberal affiliation; it can be considered the norm among academia, but I’m not sure how I feel about it.
Are colleges teaching students to all think the same? I’m not saying that I wish there were more Republican teachers or that we should read more conservative novels, I’m not the ultra-rightist that I may be making myself out to be.
I’m more concerned with learning the facts. I don’t want history to be skewed in any direction and I especially don’t want to hear my professor doing it. I know I may be prematurely judging my professor, but I hope I can see through the bias and learn for myself; I may even find myself agreeing with him.
A version of this article appeared in the Feb 9 issue of the Collegiate Times.
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What's funny is that you would think these "doctors" are intelligent enough to know that there is no different between the Democrats and Republicans.
What did their donations and a win in 2008 get them? What exactly were they trying to buy? The wars are still going on. The banksters are still getting bailed out. Infringements on our civil liberties are still going on. Torture still happens Gitmo is not closed.
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Yeah what have we gotten? What has obama done? Nothing:
-Signed financial reform law allowing shareholders of publicly traded companies to vote on executive pay
-Created more private sector jobs in 2010 than during entire Bush years
(newsjunkiepost.com/2010/10/08/its-official-more-private-sector-jobs-created-in-2010-than-during-entire-bush-years/)
-Voluntary disclosure of White House visitors for the first time in US history
(www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/disclosures/visitor-records)
-Appointed first Latina to the US Supreme Court
(www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104648062)
-Promoted social responsibility through creation of serve.gov, a national database of volunteer opportunities
(www.serve.gov/)
-Signed New START Treaty - nuclear arms reduction pact with Russia
(www.nytimes.com/2010/04/09/world/europe/09prexy.html?_r=1)
Increased average fuel economy standards from 27.5mpg to 35.5mpg, starting in 2016
(www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/01/AR2010040101412.html)
-Signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, restoring basic protections against pay discrimination for women and other workers
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilly_Ledbetter_Fair_Pay_Act_of_2009)
-Provided travel expenses to families of fallen soldiers to be on hand when the body arrives at Dover AFB
(thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/18/pentagon-will-help-families/)
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I would be interested to know how many professors are
atheists, and don't believe in an intelligent designer,
and would suppress one's belief in the classroom that GOD created the heavens and the earth. GENESIS 1:1
To those who do suppress the real truth i say :
"" have a nice judgment day ! "
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I would suggest that any professor in a science field WOULD suppress the idea of "GOD" creating the heavens and the earth, as any good scientist would do. A religious studies professor would be a different story...
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"I’m more concerned with learning the facts. I don’t want history to be skewed in any direction and I especially don’t want to hear my professor doing it."
Once you realize that bias is inherent in any presentation of "facts," you'll be closer to all grown up.
Bias is inherent in anything and everything, it's just that you usually can't discern it.
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I agree. Become fluent in another language then read their history books.
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All the more reason to have an open discussion. This evokes debate, which most professors invite.
Maybe it will be worthwhile, possibly send a message?
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It's too bad that some professors at VT aren't teaching you all critical thinking skills, but just because some classes have a clear bias (and I say "clear" because as one commenter pointed out, it's impossible to avoid bias) doesn't mean all do. When I discuss controversial topics in class (for example, illegal immigration), I present different points of view that will help guide your own opinions, even though I have VERY strong opinions on the subject. After leaving my class, you won't know which "side" I am on or what political party I might have donated to (none, actually).
Professors should teach you HOW to think not WHAT to think, and some of us do, so generalizations don't really work in this case.
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I think by the time an individual reaches college, he should be able to think for himself. Kudos to you, Faculty Member, for shielding your opinions on controversial issues.
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The problem is that education in this country is becoming so institutionalized and uniform on a federal level, that 90+% of college students in America only get one side. So even if a professor strives to be unbiased and fair, he is still teaching the same stuff that every other professor in the country is. Why? Because they themselves attended and received their PhD's from the same universities.
So it does not matter which school you go to in the USA, you are going to "learn" the same script. In other words, though teachers may vary on style or tactics, they are teaching you the same story-- they may disagree on specifics of the same philosophy.
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This means that you can easily predict what a student in any major is learning, regardless of the school they are attending.
Economics - 99% of teachers are going to teach you that Keynesian Economics (debt and consumption) got us through the Great Depression, and is what is needed to get us out of the current recession. You are not told that there is an entire school of thought out there (Austrian Economics) which claims that Keynesianism is bunk and that savings and production are what really lead to prosperity.
Politics/Government - 99% of teachers will not touch anarchy with a ten foot pole. They do not let students know that in the past anarchy has actually worked. All teachers start with the foundation that "government is necessary." They keep students trapped in a box so that students do not contemplate any form of government beyond what has been or is currently in use.
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Biology/Science - Evolution is gospel. If colleges are really an arena of the free exchange of ideas, you would think that teachers would spend 1 hour out of a semester saying "but there is this thing Creationism which half the population believes in." Many PhD's believe in creationism and geocentricity (Earth center of solar sysemt) and other crazy ideas. To promote critical thinking teachers should at least mention alternative ideas in passing, and interested students can research them on their own.
History - We used to learn the "history of rich white dudes," now 99% of students in the country learn multiculturalism. In 30 years historiography will be different and Americans will state, "we used to only learn the story of women and minorities." I LOVE learning about these things, but when 99% of universities teach the SAME THING, if feels like it is being crammed down our throats.
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Creationism isn't discussed in science classes because there is no empirical evidence for it beyond what is written in the bible. It belongs in a mythology or Religion class, along with Greek, Asian, African, and Native American myths about how we came to be.
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"Economics - 99% of teachers are going to teach you that Keynesian Economics (debt and consumption) got us through the Great Depression, and is what is needed to get us out of the current recession. You are not told that there is an entire school of thought out there (Austrian Economics) which claims that Keynesianism is bunk and that savings and production are what really lead to prosperity."
You are TOTALLY MAKING ALL OF YOUR CLAIMS UP.
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Citizens of other countries are STILL coming to the US for an education because it is widely known that colleges here are head and shoulders above most of the rest of the world.
Our primary and secondary schools are not in good shape, but you can't knock college in the US with a straight face. Just because you don't agree with everything profs are saying doesn't mean they shouldn't teach it. Are you so weak minded that you can't form your own opinion on things?
And of course Evolution is "gospel!" It's science-based. If you want to cover Creationism, go to church or take a class specifically on it. Just because many PhD's believe in it does not mean it has any place in a science class.
You sound like Glen Beck. Since when has getting an education become such a terrible thing???
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http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stories/16356/professors-should-choose-to-be-more-objective-during-lectures
Broken record much, Collegiate Times? It crossed my mind that this might even be Ms. Knutson writing under a brand-new nom de plume. But Ms. Samuels is ten times the writer Ms. Knutson is, so I suppose that's not possible.
Now, to Ms. Samuels: I know who you're talking about. I just googled "liberal maniac", together with a few other well-chosen search terms. So why bother with being vague? Why can't you give us the specifics of what was said? It's difficult to sympathize with your position when you're being so frustratingly non-specific...he could have said anything from "Guys, I actually think Obama has done a good job of rescuing our economy from the brink of disaster" (which I find totally appropriate) to "OBAMA IS THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST; FALL ON YOUR KNEES OR BE SLAUGHTERED" (which is somewhat more objectionable). So you never really had me with this article.
Also - and now *I* sound like a broken record - I'd love to be transported to the fantasy land where there is such a thing as *truly* objective fact. Anyone who pays any attention to politics knows there is frequently no such thing, particularly when it comes to issues (global warming, abortion, the economy, the impact of gay marriage on the family) that really matter in this country. If you find this frightening or unacceptable, become a math major.
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Learning is not restricted to the classroom. There are numerous resources to research information on your own time. College is meant for you to develop critical thinking skills along with material in your major. Part of critical thinking is asking questions to that material, researching, and forming your own conclusions. Don't place the entire blame on the professor.
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Learning is not restricted to the classroom. There are numerous resources to research information on your own time. College is meant for you to develop critical thinking skills along with material in your major. Part of critical thinking is asking questions to that material, researching, and forming your own conclusions. Don't place the entire blame on the professor.
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