I've got this crazy professor

[BraveNewFamily]

But I feel for you. I graduated from a nice little liberal arts college. At a dinner my department was having for graduating students, the Chair got a little drunk and said “I can’t believe we let someone graduate who is still a Christian.” He was talking about me.

wow

 

[CTuck]

You’re very lucky she is outspoken about her beliefs. At least, you know where she stands and can evaluate what’s going on. I would drop the class if I were you (especially if I was still an undergraduate).

On the other hand, I transferred into graduate school at the University of Arkansas, at Fayetteville, and experienced the same prejudices from behind the scenes. I ended up leaving to find a Catholic university, and the academic adviser (who attempted to ruin my academic career) was eventually made head of the Art department the following semester.

I honestly don’t know what rights a student has in these matters anymore (considering the times we live in). It seems one extremely unprofessional professor, with an agenda, can make a students life a living h-e-double hockey sticks.

I live in Fayetteville and have considered going to U of A. What kind of prejudices did you experience? I’d like to know before I get caught up in them. Did you attend St. Thomas Aquinas Parish?

 

[Sonic]

I live in Fayetteville and have considered going to U of A. What kind of prejudices did you experience? I’d like to know before I get caught up in them. Did you attend St. Thomas Aquinas Parish?

CTuck, I’ll PM you with details. I don’t want to derail the current topic.

 

[catharina]

For a summer history class. I’m a science student, at a non-liberal arts college, so I’ve taken nothing but science classes and science labs. So this is my first time experiencing the artsy humanity side of education. I’ve gotta say: BIG difference. She has pink hair.

I wrote this paper on humanity, and she circled every single use of the word “man.” She then proceeded to tell the class that we’re not allowed to say “man” in order to refer to humankind, because it’s gender discrimination.

The other day she told us a story about how she gave heck to some guy at her daughter’s school who had a pro-life bumper sticker. But as she was saying the “pr” of “pro-life,” she stopped herself and said “anti-choice.” Wow. Really?

She does this thing all the time where she says “for whom?” after pretty much everything. For example, she’ll saying something like “The Enlightenment valued progress. But progress for whom?” And the answer is always something along the lines of “for white men, that’s who!”

So I wanted to raise my hand and be like “Hey professor, you’re pro-CHOICE with respect to whom? The choice of the irresponsible harlot who does not comprehend the word ‘consequence,’ or the choice of the defenseless child? Surely it’s not the latter.” But I figured she’d kill me on spot so I just held it in.

She hates men. Passionately. And she blames not just Christianity, but the Catholic Church in particular (she uses “Church” and “Christianity” interchangeably, which is historically incorrect of course) for a patriarchal society. But I sit there and ponder life before Christianity or religion for that matter, you know, when men went out and hunted for food and women stayed in the huts taking care of the children… I fail to see the difference. No matter, even if Christianity is responsible for patriarchal societies, it just makes me appreciate my religion a little bit more.

She says things everyday about the Church, about how it’s responsible for all of the evil things in the Western world like capitalism and democracy. But instead of sucking that in as “wow that darn Church!” like the rest of the class the way she wants, I, in my own little “narrow-minded” world think something along the lines of “Wow… my Church is responsible for all of the great things the Western world has to offer? That’s pretty cool.” Even though I think she is in historical error about the role of the Catholic Church in particular, but that’s ok, what do I know I’m just a science student.

OK. So she’s crazy.
Hold that thought.

 

[FaithBuild18]

I think you’d better transfer to another university. You’re obviously not getting your money’s worth.

Sigh College should not be about learning a trade. Unfortunately, many students approach it that way. There are certain things we as professors try our best to teach and instill in our students that you are often unaware of or resist mightily. Critical thinking skills, problem solving skills, deep analytical skills. The sad truth is that many students happily go through their entire education and are concerned only about the grade in the class currently being taught. I was the same way in most of my classes, including those in my major.

From the not-so-long perch of age, looking back on my undergrad years there are a number of classes I wish I had taken. I majored in Chemistry and Physics, but I wish I had spent some time in the Philosophy department.

Yes, a lot is covered in high school. But I can tell you right off that the level taught in most colleges is much deeper and many of the topics much more advanced than that. If my students expect to get away with HS level work, they quickly find themselves in a pretty deep hole. College is NOT HS, despite the efforts of some students, some faculty, and some administrators to water it down.

It all comes down to this: You get what you give. If you think college is a scam, leave. Go prove us all wrong. Otherwise, throw yourself whole-heartedly into your studies, and get your money’s worth. That may take transferring, but it will be worth it in the end.

You guys misunderstand. I get my money’s worth. I study hard and it will actually make a difference. It’s the sociology, anthropology, music, etc majors that have little opportunity beyond college that are wasting their time and money, who were scammed into believing that if they just study hard and go to college they can be absolutely whatever they want and all of their hopes and dreams will subsequently come true. I know anthro majors who have to work at places like Gamestop and Sears because unless you’re going to be a college anthropology professor, such a degree is essentially worthless. Maybe the value is worth it at a community college, which I think are better options than most would consider, but to spend the $30k/year on average for four years at a private University, or the $50k/year that it costs to come here, if you are not planning on becoming a professional you are definitely wasting your money.

To be a biochemist or a dentist (my potential paths) there is 0 value to a history class. So why should I spend time learning something that will vanish from my memory by this time next year? If you aren’t using it, you will forget it. Quickly. I’m being groomed for my profession, and regarding the skills that I need to learn I am getting what is one of the best educations in America. Our science programs are top notch. It’s ridiculous to suggest that I’m wasting my money or that I should transfer because I’m learning nothing about history or because I don’t know what ceramics are composed of. None of that matters. In fact, by making such an assertion, you are placing a value on learning transient fact based knowledge, which we’re basically never responsible for knowing here. We ARE taught how to think, as you say, for ourselves, which is largely my point, and that’s the difference between a specialized education and a liberal arts education. We are taught the skills necessary for success. None of that comes to fruition by valuing dates, facts, trivial blurbs, etc. One can feel good about themselves for having a “well-rounded” education, but he/she will remember next to nothing if it isn’t what they’re using for the rest of their lives.

To think that a student isn’t going to try hard just because he’s working for a successful career rather than pure enlightenment is preposterous. Profit motive works wonders. A worker in the private sector works harder than a government worker because he works for personal success. I work harder than most that I know because I’m beyond ambitious and determined to land myself a successful career in order to provide for my family. I’d go as far as saying the only difference between me and the next student is that I realize how worthless the value of a diploma is. It’s that realization that propels me to distinguish myself from those who go through the motions and say “Oh I’ll be ok, I’m going to college to get an education, I’ll get a job no problem.”

Why is it a shame that college is approached as a trade school? You can fantasize all you want about some hyper-realistic dream of college being a nebulous place where minds come to gain insight , but the bottom line is it isn’t going to make people successful.

 

[Cojuanco]

Take the class, avoid clashing with her, try your absolute best to get an A in the class. And then when it comes time for the student reviews, give her a piece of your mind, respectfully of course. Say how the professor refuses to tolerate dissenting views, belittles her students, and has shown herself incapable of adhering to professional standards of academic freedom. Believe me, the faculty committees pay attention to these kind of things. If she’s not tenured, they’ll turn her out. If she is, she’ll be that much less likely to get a pay raise or any new class or research opportunity.

Really, while most professors are pro-abortion, most try to show respect for all views. From my experience, it’s usually the students who are that militant.

 

[tlimon]

This general method of discrimination is how academics keep Christians out of academia. Christians are discriminated against and thus get sub par grades. Sub par grades keep Christians out of graduate programs. Christians lack graduate degrees and therefore professorships. Christians are under-educated and under-represented in academia. Thus, Christians are intellectually inferior.

And the tautology continues…

 

[Cojuanco]

Not really. Most professors are leftists, yes, but I’ve never been discriminated against by the administration or faculty because of my faith or politics, and most of my professors know what both of them are (one even occasionally attends Mass at a local parish - now if only he went to Mass every Sunday…). I treat them with respect, and they treat me with respect. The kind of discrimination you talk of in my experience comes from fellow students, who take the views of the professors without the common decency and politeness.

Then again, I’ve never seen my professors drunk, on account that the campus is drier than a Baptist service on a Sunday morning…

 

[Young_Thinker]

Then again, I’ve never seen my professors drunk, on account that the campus is drier than a Baptist service on a Sunday morning…

A drinking-party full of opinionated professors? Now that would be really entertaining (but you might want to watch that no one commits anything beyond venial sin)!

 

[Chocoholic]

I graduated recently, and like you, was a science student (Geology and Engineering). Your professor is a lunatic bully. I’ve encountered this type of professor in General Studies classes. My Women’s Studies Professor actually advocated abortion in the classroom. Now, the University system is set up to protect the professor, not you. You need to consider the consequences of any decisions very carefully before you act:

1. If you speak out, she will most likely find an arbitrary reason to lower your grade and possible give you a failing grade out of spite.
2. If you drop the class, you could lose a large chunk of tuition money. It could have ramifications for scholarships and financial aid as well. Investigate this fully before you drop the class.
3. If you have more than two withdrawals, that can hurt your chances for certain graduate programs (some programs count withdrawals as failing grades when calculating your GPA). If you are considering graduate school, keep that in mind.

I recommend that you fully research your professors whenever possible before walking into a classroom. ratemyprofessors.com can easily save you a-lot of trouble. Students rate the professors, and will speak out if someone behaves in the way your professor is behaving.

If you do speak out and she decides to discriminate against you, consider hiring an attorney to sue the University and the Department for discriminating against you for being Catholic. This is a favorite tactic of “Progressives” when they wish to silence us. Perhaps it’s time for us to give them a taste of their own medicine. If you do this, make sure you have as much documentation as possible (and witnesses if you can get them).

Best of luck to you whatever you decide to do.

 

[catharina]

I recommend that you fully research your professors whenever possible before walking into a classroom. ratemyprofessors.com can easily save you a-lot of trouble. Students rate the professors, and will speak out if someone behaves in the way your professor is behaving.

YES. TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU!

If you do speak out and she decides to discriminate against you, consider hiring an attorney to sue the University and the Department for discriminating against you for being Catholic. This is a favorite tactic of “Progressives” when they wish to silence us. Perhaps it’s time for us to give them a taste of their own medicine. If you do this, make sure you have as much documentation as possible (and witnesses if you can get them).

Best of luck to you whatever you decide to do.

 

[thinker]

Pray for her… fervently. I’d have trouble doing that but I would recommend it.

and remember; the best revenge is living well; happily.

 

[DJ_Pius_X]

In her defense…you should probably try to use gender-neutral terms to talk about humans. Not everyone is a dude.

But on the other hand, yeah, academia is not the proper place for one’s political and social views.

Good luck to you. I would take my issues to a counselor, or maybe visit her during office hours and state your discomfort? Maybe if you treat her and her views with respect she’ll decide we’re not monsters after all?

 

[sedonaman]

… If you are given a chance to write your own papers, a good thing to do is to take the pro-church side and offer a valid defense such as how it was the Church that essentially saved the Western world from total darkness after the Fall of Rome.

That’s all well and good, but the professor’s next move would be to force “the class to write papers around her own agenda like ‘How abortion advanced the Western world’ or some other garbage.”

This has happened before, and continues to happen today, and will continue until enough of these types are forced to pay damages for violating students’ academic rights. [Yes, students have academic rights, too!] One student went to court because her professor tried to force her by threats to write a letter to political representatives to express her “support” for a cause she morally objected to. In another case,

Jonathan Lopez, a student at Los Angeles City College, had a classroom speech in front of his peers interrupted by his Speech 101 professor because the professor did not like Lopez’s mention of his religious views and experiences. The professor refused to give Lopez a grade for the speech, telling him, “Ask God what your grade is.” … Lopez challenged LACCD’s sexual harassment policy, which allowed the college to punish any “offensive” expression or speech that had a “negative impact” on a student’s academic performance. Worse, the policy contained a section providing “examples” of prohibited speech, including:
Sexual Harassment based on your gender: This is generalized sexist statements, actions and behavior that convey insulting, intrusive or degrading attitudes/comments about women or men. Examples include insulting remarks; intrusive comments about physical appearance; offensive written material such as graffiti, calendars, cartoons, emails; obscene gestures or sounds; sexual slurs, obscene jokes, humor about sex.
thefire.org/article/11107.html
Unquote.

Most, if not all, colleges and universities have speech codes that conflict with their own statements of commitment to the free exchange of ideas. The problem with speech codes is they are selectively enforced against Christians and other conservatives.

One thing the OP can do is go to this website ratemyprofessors.com/index.jsp and post her comments. It might not help her, but it might help other students avoid the professor’s classes.

The word “professor” brings up an interesting question the OP might ask tactfully: “Professor, what do you profess?” The student might find her answer to include words like “advocate”, which is not the mission of higher ed, it is the pursuit of truth, NOT the advocacy of causes, political or otherwise. Students are paying to be taught how to think, not what to think. Professors have an obligation to provide this teaching, and they do not have a right, behind the shield of academic freedom, to talk nonsense to their students.

One statement that keeps popping up now and then by conservative students is they are getting a better education than their liberal counterparts who have no need to justify their beliefs and therefore are not challenged to think. Also, there is value in patronizing a professor you disagree with. When you are in a job after graduation, eventually you will be asked by your boss to support a bad idea. Not necessarily a morally bad idea, but one that is not good for your company.

The OP might also peruse these websites for other examples:
thefire.org
alliancedefensefund.org

For other interesting reading, see:
goacta.org

“Save the World on Your Own Time”
by Professor Stanley Fish [a liberal, BTW]
chronicle.com/jobs/2003/01/2003012301c.htm

“Witness for Academic Freedom”
by: Stephen H. Balch
archive.frontpagemag.com/readArticle.aspx?ARTID=6062

Finally, let me offer my definition of “political correctness” which seems to be one of the driving forces behind higher ed: “A crusade to ignorance characterized by the rejection of truth that conflicts with ideology.” That might make an interesting thesis to some student’s essay or speech.

I wish the OP all the luck.

 

[bentcurve]

Here is a thought:

Rather than write her off simpy because she does not agree with you, how about realizing the she has a PhD, and probably thinks the way she does for a reason, and try to understand her. How can you ever combat or counter thoughts or ideas if you lack the understanding of their generation and inspiration. Here you have someone who is a source for many other who will end up thinking the same way, and rather than trying to understand her points, and come up with refutation of merit on your side for future debates, you have just grown despondent.

Here are some facts:

1. I promise you are not the first student like yourself she has had
2. It is her class, and her curriculum
3. she doesnt need to pass anything anymore, you do
4. you will never change her mind at this point. Her entire life, really, is build on these ideas. She has probably published several times on these ideas, and built her reputation and status on them.

Since we know you are not going to change her mind, this seems like the best time to simply take it as a learning experience, suffer through, and hopefully generate some good and honest answers in case you make friends who might share similar views.

 

[Ben_F]

As I read these posts, I sometimes wonder. Maybe not going to College, was a good move on my son´s part. He´s successful now. Later, it is in the hands of Our Lord . I really pushed him to advance his education, but he choose the vocational route, rather than the academic. He has a nice house, he is married with no kids. His job is a steady one, in that he works for my son-in-law. I can understand why so many in our society, just have it all wrong. I´m grateful that education was not as bad as this when I was young. In class, just keep your thoughts to yourself, give the school answer and ask for forgiveness, for your hypocrisy. Stay in school and ingore the stupidity that sometimes comes into light. Forgive them, for they know not. God bless:thumbsup:

 

[sedonaman]

Here is a thought:
…
Since we know you are not going to change her mind, this seems like the best time to simply take it as a learning experience, suffer through, and hopefully generate some good and honest answers in case you make friends who might share similar views.

Here is a thought: The professor should be fired immediately, if not sooner, before she and people like her can do any more damage, because there were undoubtedly people in Germany who just let it slide when Hitler came to power. Before you dismiss me as some kind of nut, consider what Hayek wrote in 1943: “It is a common mistake to regard National Socialism as a mere revolt against reason, an irrational movement without intellectual background. If that were so, the movement would be much less dangerous than it is.” – F. A. Road to Serfdom, Chapter 12. “The Socialist Roots of Nazism”

And,
“Heil, Professor!” by Phil Orenstein
…
Ideas Have Consequences

Professors are in a position of enormous power and authority in front of the classroom, in molding and shaping young minds, and there is a corresponding responsibility that comes with this position of authority that can leverage the passion and raw energy of youth for good or for evil. To abuse this power is the greatest evil that can lead to horrific consequences as it has since the early 19th century in Germany. The maxim that “ideas have consequences” is well known. Moreover, dangerous ideas and the manner in which they are disseminated can lead to dangerous consequences. Accordingly, their purveyors should be held accountable for the results, when the results are world war, mass-murder, genocide, or Holocaust.
…
It is worth remembering that not all academics in the German university of the 1930s allowed themselves to be sucked into the Nazi maelstrom. There were a few with the integrity to stand up against the storm, hold onto their beliefs, who paid the price, and there were also a few who lived to tell their stories. Victor Klemperer, a professor of Literature at the University of Dresden, already in the minority for his unpopular views on the French Enlightenment, and formerly a Jew, was expelled after the Nuremberg Laws were enacted. To his great dismay, faculty, former friends, and colleagues deserted him. He witnessed them grovel at the feet of the Nazis, compromise their consciences and bend their scholarship to the Nazis’ will. He observed the fake righteous self-interest of his contemporaries vying with one another to achieve coveted Nazi credentials. They were the guilty party, not the ordinary Germans. Given the opportunity to mete out punishment after it’s all over, he wrote the following in one of his published diaries, I Will Bear Witness: A Diary of the Nazi Years 1933-1941:

If one day the situation were reversed and the fate of the vanquished lay in my hands, then I would let all the ordinary folk go and even some of the leaders, who might perhaps after all have had honorable intentions and not known what they were doing. But I would have all the intellectuals strung up, and the professors three feet higher than the rest; they would be left hanging from the lampposts for as long as was compatible with hygiene.
Unquote

And another thought: Since this prof has all the right answers, knowledge in her field must be complete, so we can eliminate her position and just assign a book for the students to read.

 

[catharina]

As I read these posts, I sometimes wonder. Maybe not going to College, was a good move on my son´s part. He´s successful now. Later, it is in the hands of Our Lord . I really pushed him to advance his education, but he choose the vocational route, rather than the academic. He has a nice house, he is married with no kids. His job is a steady one, in that he works for my son-in-law. I can understand why so many in our society, just have it all wrong. I´m grateful that education was not as bad as this when I was young. In class, just keep your thoughts to yourself, give the school answer and ask for forgiveness, for your hypocrisy. Stay in school and ingore the stupidity that sometimes comes into light. Forgive them, for they know not. God bless:thumbsup:

Ditto, but skip the “maybe” - am so grateful that my son skipped college, in California, in the 90s. I prayed he’d skip it. Earning a remarkable living in computers, married in the Catholic Church six yrs ago and is now 36 yrs old. Blessed be GOD!

 

[FaithBuild18]

Here is a thought:

Rather than write her off simpy because she does not agree with you, how about realizing the she has a PhD, and probably thinks the way she does for a reason, and try to understand her. How can you ever combat or counter thoughts or ideas if you lack the understanding of their generation and inspiration. Here you have someone who is a source for many other who will end up thinking the same way, and rather than trying to understand her points, and come up with refutation of merit on your side for future debates, you have just grown despondent.

Here are some facts:

1. I promise you are not the first student like yourself she has had
2. It is her class, and her curriculum
3. she doesnt need to pass anything anymore, you do
4. you will never change her mind at this point. Her entire life, really, is build on these ideas. She has probably published several times on these ideas, and built her reputation and status on them.

Since we know you are not going to change her mind, this seems like the best time to simply take it as a learning experience, suffer through, and hopefully generate some good and honest answers in case you make friends who might share similar views.

If you think having a PhD entitles one to knowledge you are living behind a veil of lies. I’ve had high school teachers that know more about history than she does. Your idea of a fact is grossly oversimplified. Considering this is her first year teaching, your Fact #1 is most likely wrong. Fact 3 is also wrong. She still has to get tenure. You haven’t a clue what you’re talking about and know nothing of the situation besides what I’ve told you. Why you sit there and imagine her as being some enlightened paladin of truth simply because she has a PhD is beyond me. I’ve mentioned various things in this topic that she has proclaimed in her class that are historically incorrect.

Here, this should give you a taste of her vapidness. Recently, she mentioned how China invented gun powder for fireworks and hundreds of years later, dumb white people FINALLY came up with the same invention, but instead of using it for fireworks used it to slaughter everyone in their path. This supports furthers her point about non-white Christians, like the Chinese, being peaceful and never going to war, while evil white people and their idea of the Christian God gave rise to mankind’s (Sorry, I mean humankind’s) first ever war.

China invented gun powder true, they used it for fireworks too, also true. But they also created guns, WAY before white man did! And it was only after the Chinese had guns that it spread to the Middle East, and then to Europe. Not only that, Asia was constantly in conflict! Chinese and Mongols were killing each other long before white man ever stepped foot into Africa! In all of recorded history (thousands of years), there are only about an accumulative 300 years of peace, and even that is probably dismissable considering the conflicts in isolated areas that have no record. She literally has no clue what she’s talking about. She tries desperately to justify her feminist views, and that’s it. That is all this class is.

I also mentioned how her thesis paper contained multiple profanities and references no scholarly sources but instead references the likes of MTV, pop/rap songs, and television commercials. She is a phony. Her PhD is a joke.

And if you think I’m coming here to complain about her because of grades or something, or because “I don’t understand her” you should reconsider. I can scan you my graded papers so far if you want to see my performance in the class. Not only did I get my first 100% on a written paper in my entire collegiate life, but I’ve gotten that score two consecutive times now. I will let you know on Tuesday what my grade in the class is if you’d like, because that’s when I’ll be done with the class. This has NOTHING to do with grading or understanding, and EVERYTHING to do with integrity and professionalism.

 

[sedonaman]

… I’m a science student, at a non-liberal arts college, so I’ve taken nothing but science classes and science labs. So this is my first time experiencing the artsy humanity side of education. I’ve gotta say: BIG difference. She has pink hair. …

Since you have taken almost exclusively science classes, you probably haven’t noticed the envy of the liberal arts departments for the sciences. This has been going on since long before I started college in 1959. I didn’t notice it right away, but you pick up a piece here and there, and before long you have a picture. Stephen H. Balch captures the essence of it here:

No Useful Social Product

. . . the increasingly creedal character of the social sciences and humanities has to be reckoned a partial failure for the scientific enterprise in academe. During the earlier part of the twentieth century many of the university’s leading lights saw humane studies as on their way toward incorporation within science. In fact, the framers of American Association of University Professors (AAUP) founding document, its 1915 Declaration of Principles, almost all social scientists or humanists, hinged their case for academic freedom squarely on faculty adherence to science-like practice. As they observed: “Since there are no rights without corresponding duties, the considerations heretofore set down with respect to the freedom of the academic teacher entail certain correlative obligations. The claim to freedom of teaching is made in the interest of the integrity and of the progress of scientific inquiry; it is, therefore, only those who carry on their work in the temper of the scientific inquirer who may justly assert this claim.” It is now clear that this temper has proven far more difficult to keep than originally assumed. This partially reflects the complex and refractory nature of the questions the social sciences and humanities address. Because these fields haven’t as yet developed methodologies capable of cracking tough conceptual nuts in the dispositive manner of the natural sciences, recourse to institutional authority – that is say, to the settling of disputes through the erection of orthodoxy – has proved difficult to resist. A second factor lies in the inability of these domains to produce a useful social product in anything like the amounts generated by the study of nature.

Absent the prestige, support, and self-confidence that such social product confers, the humanities and social sciences have sought them instead through affiliation with what they believe to be deserving movements and causes, each in need of intellectual justification and defense. And, of course, the loss of scientific temper also reflects the dual fact/value quality of the questions with which humane scholarship deals. Passion is woven into its very fabric.

“More Crises Than One”
Stephen H. Balch
nas.org/print/print/More_Crises_than_One–SHB.pdf

Unquote.

One might legitimately ask why we are investing resources into ventures with no return, or a negative return. city-journal.org/2011/cjc0714hm.html