<p>I've heard so much about Texas A&M being conservative to the point of rigid. Can some of you current and former students respond by giving examples of where the conservatism shows most. Also, I've read that class discussions are not encouraged - is there any truth to this?</p>
<p>Conservatism probably shows most in response to social issues- for example, it is fairly normal to see some kind of pro-life activism on campus. Other than that I dunno. Right now you see a pretty high number of both Obama and McCain t-shirts around, so although it is pretty conservative I would definitely not consider it rigid. As far as class discussion, it depends on your prof. The 100 person classes generally don't lend themselves to discussion, there are just too many people. I have had one class with about 200 though that did do a lot of discussion, and another class that was that large met in smaller groups one day of the week purely to have discussion. I generally have pretty small classes though, and discussing has been a huge part of my college education. For example, I have had at least one class every semester for the past 2 yrs where discussion is the primary form of interaction (the one I'm in right now is on eugenics- it's really interesting!).</p>
<p>Class discussions are not encouraged?? Where did you read that? I've had an Astronomy class where class participation was 10% of my grade, and now my US History II class has a discussion lab one day a week instead of 3 days of lecture, where 20% of my grade comes from. And those are just a few examples. Class discussion in most cases I have found is highly encouraged.</p>
<p>Conservatism is not to the point of rigid. Just today I walked on campus by a booth advertising the GLBT Association. As posted before, I see many Obama and McCain shirts. I walk on campus and see all sorts of people. Now granted the majority may be white middle-class Americans who are likely conservative, with a school of 48k+ you'll find plenty of people who defy the majority.</p>
<p>By the way,I really don't understand the reason why every student is required to take U.S history I and II. In most schools, you don't have to if you are engineering major.</p>
<p>A&M leads pretty conservative but it's not that conservative. It's a growing school so there's not going to be a particular ideology that everyone on campus follows.</p>
<p>The history dates back to when A&M was a military school. The idea is that in order to function in the United States and be active politically, one must understand where we come from and how our government works. It's the same premise as the High School's reason, to keep people socially educated.</p>
<p>As for conservative, yes, the school is conservative for the most part. HOWEVER, I have not had any problems or pressures by this fact. The most extreme thing we've had was an "anti-Obama" carnival that got warped by CNN. You're not forced into anything or lectured one way or another. You're not condemned for your views.</p>