Has the OP even checked in since posting this thread about a week ago? Seems like a drive-by intended to get us all riled up. >:)
@RandyErika - yeah, probably a college student doing a research project…
“Many liberal students also would love to engage in fact-based, reasoned debate.”
I absolutely believe this to be true. Unfortunately, it’s the radical factions of either viewpoint (though whether true or not the leftist radicals seem to be the most numerous and virulent) that choose to shout down reasoned discussion. As for the OP I think that larger universities (especially in the midwest and south) would be more likely to be more apt to be less one sided in their views and less hostile to open discussion.
It is difficult to have a reasoned discussion on this topic without veering into politics which may violate the TOS, so I won’t engage further except to say that I would disagree that one side is more virulent than the other.
“it’s quite easy to argue over history. One example is that many people today protest the USA on the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima because they believe that we never should have used nuclear weapons, while others argue that it was the right decision because the Japanese refused to surrender even after being completely decimated, and an invasion of the mainland would have caused millions of more deaths.”
Good example, and this is why I am asking. I cannot imagine any professor being wholly intolerant of either position; in fact I am sure that discussion is an important part of any history class on the period, and that debate is discussed in all the books I have read on WWII. It’s not really “conservative vs. liberal” ideology. Which side is the conservative side in that discussion?
Postmodern, I’m glad your experience has been so positive, but I find it hard to believe that you can’t imagine how bias (of any sort, not just political) could come into play in any classroom if a particular professor were so inclined.
And it’s not necessarily about a specific position on a specific issue - knowing that someone holds a life philosophy that is anathema to everything you believe can make it hard for someone in a position of power to be fair. People who feel very strongly about something, such that that belief system is the framework for their entire lives, obviously hold that belief system to be correct and opposing belief systems to be wrong. It’s not always necessarily bias, but a sincere belief that holders of the opposing philosophy are just flat-out wrong. That can and sometimes does come into play in dealing with a person whom you think is wrong and in grading their work. In my son’s economic class, the project that became an issue involved property taxes and school funding. The work could be well researched, well written, well presented, but if you sincerely believe that the entire premise taken by the student is wrong and immoral, then how do you give that person a good grade?
MODERATOR’S NOTE: Since the OP hasn’t been online since the first post a week ago, I’m closing the thread. If he/she requests that I reopen it, I will.