<p>I know a lot of you have kids in college. Does it ever bother you that there isn't a greater variety of viewpoints among the faculty?</p>
<p>Duerre,</p>
<p>If you define "variety" by party line, then yes, it may be a problem. But if you take a broader view of what "variety" can mean, then you'd realize that most top schools have an incredible variety of viewpoints, even if they don't all take a pro-life/choice, pro/anti-Iraq, intelligent design/evolution line. Look at the passionate debates between faculty in the same field, and you'll find that differences of opinion can be far more than just nuance.</p>
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I have never -- never -- seen an intelligent conservative get graded down for disagreeing with a professor. Liberal professors, because they are liberal, tend to like a variety of views, and because they are professors, they want their students to learn how to make convincing, nuanced, original arguments, not rote party-line regurgitations.
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<p>Had it happen myself... Took a C in an upper division Econ course because of it as well. Had an ex-political appointee as a prof who was keen on models proving that increasing government spending can increase growth over time. Took his mathematical model to its extreme and showed how infinite growth in governmental spending would create infinite growth, so we could all go home and watch TV. I guess he didn't appreciate the fact that I was demonstrating that markets behave on "Game Theory" (a business theory he had never studied) and adjust to players taking extreme positions. In the case of extreme government spending growth, inflation is the resulting effect from the other players (besides government) in the economic game. </p>
<p>Yes, I presented his argument (as asked in the assignment) but refused to play the party line and throw common sense out the window, presenting my refutation of the theory as a counterpoint. No red ink where I presented his view, but plenty of it where he had unkind (and insulting) things to say where there was disagreement. Of course, complaining about the grade was useless. </p>
<p>When you get to the extreme campuses, tenured professors who are true believers often get carried away. If you (like I was) feel putting your thoughts on paper is more valuable to you than your grade, it is all good.</p>
<p>BTW, I had another (not a true believer) professor look over my work at a later date (a non-graded copy). He thought it was particularly well done. It just goes to show that everyone has an opinion just like they have a belly-button. Just some people don't like my belly-button...</p>
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Does it ever bother you that there isn't a greater variety of viewpoints among the faculty?
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Not at all. I hope my daughter is enough of a critical thinker to sort out the BS from the nuggets of truth, but even if she gets "brainwashed", I don't care. </p>
<p>We have bigger problems than worrying about labeling faculty as too left or too right. We have a deficit that is killing us. The dollar is not worth cr** internationally. Our country is despised everywhere outside its borders. Healthcare is broken such that we aren't even in the top ten in life expectancy and our prenatal care is 2nd world overall.</p>
<p>so do I care about lefty professors? You gotta be kidding.</p>
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"Game Theory" (a business theory he had never studied)
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<p>I don't know that I would call game theory a "business theory," per se... Also, markets only operate on a game theoretical basis if you buy into rational choice. ;)</p>
<p>Now there's where you get yourself into A LOT of trouble in econ departments. I argued once with one of the economic profs here at UCSD about rational choice. I played Devil's Advocate, saying that it's complete hogwash because of x, y, and z. I'm just glad I didn't argue that on a paper, as I could tell that I wouldn't have done so well.</p>
<p>You wrote "Just curious, how many of you are from the NE or California, or some other liberal place?"</p>
<p>Wait, wait wait a minute. I'm from the northeast, New Hampshire to be exact, and out of ten counties, ONE is predominantly democrat. The rest are republican. Ever read about Yankees? They're pretty conservative. I know lots of Massachusetts and Connecticut is liberal, but Maine and New Hampshire aren't.</p>
<p>As for the rest of what you said, I agree with Curm and owlice.</p>
<p>California is liberal at the major urban centers, but I can guarantee you that most of the rural outskirts and central valley are not what most people would call "liberal."</p>
<p>How do you define liberal and conservative then?</p>
<p>UCLAri, it's been a long time since I was graded at anything, but once upon a time I was graded down for agreeing too much with a professor's line. It was emphasized to me that I needed to think for myself, and to be MUCH more familiar with competing theories before I rejected them out of hand. Some of my teachers were professional polemicists, but as teachers they insisted on sympathetic attention to a wide variety of theoretical positions that they attacked in print every chance they got. They didn't like short-cuts, and they weren't evangelists. </p>
<p>Academic politics and conventional politics don't always jibe. Two professors whom I described above were radically "left" in the politics of their field at the time, and fairly right-wing in their standard political views. One, although I believe he is a lifelong Democratic voter, is something of a darling of conservatives now. And a fellow student I had at least half of my classes with is now a right-wing pundit.</p>
<p>Duerre: Your posts taken together make me really sad. Jeepers, take a risk! That's a big part of what college is for! Just make certain to think through your arguments before you make them, and to make clear that you are not trying to insult people with whom you disagree. (Something like gay marriage is a big danger zone for something like that. You have to remember that some of the people to whom you are talking are gay, and what you are talking about affects their lives. If you have thought through your views, that shouldn't change what you think, but it sure as heck ought to affect how you express them.)</p>
<p>People love to argue, as long as its in a context in which they feel safe and respected. YOU don't feel safe and respected, now, I know. But I think you'll find that if you are not threatening other people they will welcome the chance to hear you out and try to convince you that you are wrong. And you should hear them out and respond to their arguments. There's no better way to make friends!</p>
<p>Most American college professors are WAY too conservative for my taste, and would be seen as such by their international colleagues.</p>
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Most American college professors are WAY too conservative for my taste, and would be seen as such by their international colleagues.
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<p>It depends upon which "international colleagues" you are referring to. Europe, yes. Middle and Far East, they are far more conservative than anything we have around here.</p>
<p>Where you stand depends on where you sit, is how the old saying goes. LOL</p>
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I'm not a troll, just frustrated. Maybe you would be too if you were in a conservative environment --I guess it's always hard to be in the minority.
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<p>I'm a liberal who grew up in very red states. Yes, it is always hard to be in the minority. It's a good experience to have.</p>
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...most liberals can't stand to consider a different point of view.
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<p>Gee, I wonder why they don't like you?</p>
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Students who don't support anything less than totally unrestricted access to abortion and same-sex marriage are unable to speak about their views at all.
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<p>Are you being prevented from speaking by the college? Harassed? Or are you simply frustrated that most people at your college don't agree with you?</p>
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People with no understanding of economics unthinkingly accept leftist economic thought.
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<p>Yes, because rightest economic thought has no unthinking proponents who lack understanding of economics. </p>
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Also, the best colleges reputation wise tend to be the most uniform in their liberal views...
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<p>Have you been to all of them, that you know this, or are you going on stereotype and your own bad experiences?</p>
<p>If you or others are actually being harassed, threatened, having your rooms and property vandalized, etc, go to the police. If you're student group's posters are being torn down, complain to whoever is in charge of poster space. If you are being graded down solely on the basis of political belief, talk to a dean. If you are irritated because omg people don't agree with you, deal with it.</p>
<p>I've discussed this on cc before (the true value of college).</p>
<p>I lived in an unofficial frat house (where all the parties were) during college. I was a GDI, through and through. No dues. No secret handshakes. Still got to go the parties. We always kept one of the big rooms pretty bare of furniture (just some cushions and odd chairs around the perimeter) . Many , many enjoyable nights - long into the night - were spent in that room arguing the issues of the day. Some nights I had allies , some nights I was by my lonesome on some issues, some nights I may have had a majority on my side at the start (but that would have been rare and only on a specific issue). We saw dawn plenty of times. It was wonderful.</p>
<p>We had only two rules
1.) No guns.
2.) You couldn't leave the room mad (to get your gun from the console).</p>
<p>Worked real well for us, too.</p>
<p>I know that there is a lot of political diversity throughout the U.S., but New England seems to be much more liberal than my region, at least in general. I would never disrespect any gay student, if for no other reason than that I know there would be consequences for doing so. My professors routinely find fault with western civilization, while glorifying Africa, the Middle East, etc and sugarcoating their histories and cultures. While the west has not been perfect, it isn't right to ignore the many great contributions it has made. Or the contributions of white men, rather than learning about how racist and sexist they were. One of my professors this semester is constantly bashing Evangelical Christian perspectives (there aren't many Evangelical Christians at my school). While I have no problem with free speech, if she did this to any other group (racial, sexual orientation, etc.) she would be severely reprimanded. It's a double standard.</p>
<p>10 characters</p>
<p>You want advice? Cowboy up or transfer. That's really it. If it bothers you that badly, leave.</p>
<p>It's probably my fault for choosing this college. I just wasn't very savvy about all this. The experience has been good overall, and I feel like I'm growing a lot as a person. It's just hard when you feel like you're the only one who thinks the way you do.</p>
<p>For those of you who might be hungry, I'm serving tiramisu in the Vigil Lounge.</p>
<p>cur, what is "GDI."</p>
<p>cur, what is "GDI." </p>
<p>An old out of use acronym apparently.;) You can translate it as Unrepentant Independent and not be in violation of the TOS.</p>