Are you kidding? UCLA students urged to expose 'radical' professors

If it's going to help the football team get a defense, I'm all for it.

 

Looking forward to the book burnings next semester.

 

color me shocked but this is one of the reasons why the professors are 'radical'

- 2002 “Jews for Peace” ad that called for an Israeli retreat to “pre-1967 borders” (signed by 13)
link

 

Old news, folks. Academia has been under attack for quiet a while now, and one of the most prominant efforts has been by noted radical Daniel Pipes and his personal pet project "campuswatch.com"

That has been up and running for a few years now...

 

I'm in college now and it's not just conservatives who see it. Most of my liberal friends see the liberal leanings of most professors. However, most students don't care about the political leanings of professors or even what articles/books they publish. Hell, Robert Jensen was one of my teachers and I enjoyed his class despite our vastly differing viewpoints.

What I disagree with is the professors from both sides who want to use their positions of power to indoctrinate stdents either way. College should be an opportunity to form your own opinions and not have them bashed into you by professors. Most profs get this but its the ones that don't that worry me (on both sides).

 

Understood. However, as a college student and a grown adult, no one is forcing you or any other student to be 'indoctrined'. Professors certainly do have liberal leanings, but as a conservative myself, I
took that opportunity as an undergrad student to debate my professors and give them a hard time. If anything, it made my experience more enjoyable.

The real problem is that students need to understand that college is NOT high school and your instructors are not required to be 'fair and balanced', as long as they afford students an environment in which they can profess their own views on issues without being fear of intimidation from the professor or fellow students.

IMO, the problem is many college kids don't understand that part...

 

I understand your point. However, when you're constantly being hammered that one way is right and another is wrong by someone who has a doctorate in a certain field, some people (on either side) may feel pressured. I don't personally and I feel sorry for those that do. The problem is there ARE some professors who make it to where their students are afraid to say anything contrary to the viewpoint of the professor. THAT is not discussion. THAT is indoctrination.

 

I went to UCLA. Most profs were pretty liberal.

I remember one making fun of the Bruin Republicans. Countless instances of Republican bashing. As an Econ major - i thought that the profs in the Econ dept. were a lot more balanced. They seemed more likely to criticize particular policies - not just blurt out the typical blanket statements about racist conservatives, homophobic conservatives, ad nauseum.

That was the main problem I had with a lot of these Professor-politicos. I think most of them were just typical partisan shills - and not really free-thinking or analytical at all.

 

but what if....(hypothetically) the Bruin Republicans actually were homo-bashing morons?

Acceptable or no?

 

A professor of arts, literature or philosophy, is supposed to challege his students to consider a wide range of opinions and think for themselves.If they only espouse the status quo or conservative line there is no opportunity for free or creative thought only wrote and regurgitation.

This is exactly why Islamic schools and the rigid, test oriented schools of the Asian cultures do not produce the creativity and innovation that the western schools have. If we let conservatism dominate our universities we will stagnate (isn't that the definition of conservatism?) Bah! why is everyone so afraid of freedom? Why are they so convinced of their righteousness? What advances in civilization were ever made by consevative thought?

 

Morons.

 

When I was at A&M, the Young Conservatives put up a "hit list" website of the most liberal proffessors at A&M.

 

You should have stopped at "When I was at A&M"

 

Um the Bruin Republicans are NOT homo-bahsing morons. To equate Republicans with "homo-bashing moron" is not acceptable.

 

Most of the advances in modern civilization are made by engineers and scientists. The very medium we use to communicate with each other is the miraculous result of a corrobaration of engineers and techicians. Concepts such as democracy or universal suffrage have been around for a long time.

While most liberal professors espouse free thought, etc. - they do not practice what they preach. I dunno. Maybe my sarcasm detector is broken here. The typical liberal professor I encountered in college was not open-minded at all and did not teach students to be free-thinkers. They wanted students to think like they did. I'm sure most conservative professors are the same way. The professors I most respect would be the ones that critique and analyze particualr policies - not make blanket statements like how all conservatives are righteous and incapable of innovation.

Your comments about Asian schools mirror some racist crap I heard from a professor once. This guy (a Euro) claimed that American and Euros were superior and more innovative than Japanese or Chinese. That while Asians were great (and in particular the Japanese) were great at emulating and perfecting manufacturing techniques - they were incapable of any innovation. It is typical for some white people to denigrate us nerdy Asians and claim that while we may be great at math tests - we're really not smart at all.

 

[I'm a liberal]

Other than the copyright violation stuff, I have no problems with what this group is doing. They are a private group. They are not the government, they do not run the university. If someone starts a private group targeting "racist" or "misygonist" professors, I'd be ok with that too.

The best professors, IMO, are not the ones who shy away from expressing their opinions, especially if the opinions offered cover that professor's area of expertise. These professors have PhDs and are actively doing cutting edge research. Even if I don't agree with them, I still would like to know what is the "latest spin" from the other side.

My favorite professors are the ones who openly acknowledge their bias. These professors tell you they are liberal, but they also invite intelligent arguments from the other side. They do not use their power to bully the conservative students to silence. Rather, they offer their evidence and further the discussion. At the end of the day, everyone, including the professor, learned a great deal more about the topic.

What we have to distinguish here is ideology and teaching style. There is nothing wrong with having a liberal or conservative ideology. There is also nothing wrong with expressing those ideology through your teaching. What should be attacked is the "I am right and you are wrong" teaching style of professors who only want to hammer out their points.

Those type of professors are not necessarily liberal or conservative. They are just arrogant pricks.

 

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