Wednesday, November 19, 2003
Warning: mild profanity (not my words, but the words of one of my professors).
I recall when I started my PhD program that the professor I was "TA"ing for at the time, got all the TAs together and told us how to deal with "right wing assholes' who will try to steal the discussion and push their narrow views on the class.
I made a comment about how, yeah, extreme views on either side of the spectrum are bad when taken overboard - what is needed is real discussion considering all the sides of the issue.
I was given an odd look and told that liberals are never wrong and their views are appropriate for class, since liberals are open-minded and tolerant and that's what higher education is about: liberalizing the students.
Silly me, I thought it was about clear and honest discussion of all sides of an issue.
I recall when I started my PhD program that the professor I was "TA"ing for at the time, got all the TAs together and told us how to deal with "right wing assholes' who will try to steal the discussion and push their narrow views on the class.
I made a comment about how, yeah, extreme views on either side of the spectrum are bad when taken overboard - what is needed is real discussion considering all the sides of the issue.
I was given an odd look and told that liberals are never wrong and their views are appropriate for class, since liberals are open-minded and tolerant and that's what higher education is about: liberalizing the students.
Silly me, I thought it was about clear and honest discussion of all sides of an issue.
