I smell the stench of conservatism on my Political Science professor

I'm taking an introductory Political Science class this semester in college. It'll definitely be an easy class. Nothing any DU'er doesn't already know. Just took it for an easy "A".

However, I am alarmed by my professor. At first, I thought he was okay. He is from Belgium. He talked about Moore and the statue, and seemed to support having him remove it. He even got in some barbs at the PATRIOT Act. He predicted that Arnold would win in CA. Even though I disagree, I still thought he was okay.

But as class progressed, I began to get alarmed. He talked about how you can watch CNN for the liberal perspective and FOX for conservatism. I just shook my head. Then he started talking about the liberal network anchors (Jennings, Rather, Brokaw). At the very end of class, he even got in some insults about election 2000. He was talking about his in-laws, who he called staunch Democrats. He said that they were really rabid. Apparently, they wanted to count the votes in Palm Beach County. It was as if he was mocking their desire for a fair recount.

He wouldn't clarify whether or not he was officially a Repuke. He said that for the class, he was neither. I have optimism that even if he is Republican, he's more moderate. I don't think I'll do anything drastic, like dropping the course.

What are your experiences with conservative professors, especially in a class where politics is crucial in the discussion. I could actually see it being interesting. I refuse to let him get away with spewing right wing propaganda, even if it means a decrease in my grade.

--Taylor

that maybe you should wait a bit and see how your class debates progress. Because if he admires opinionated kids on alll sides of politics then go for it and have fun! If he has a distaste for other peoples opinion perhaps you should give him a good lecture of your own then lol! I'm gonna be a senior in high school and my school is positively rabid with liberal teachers so I don't have any anecdotes of my own. But you should go for it either way IMO cause that's what I would do! Good luck in fighing the good fight.

My most conservative high school teachers were a gay guy and a guy who admires both Pierre Trudeau and Dumbya.

him get away with spouting off rite wing propoganda! He sounds to me like he's a little mixed up on what our Country should be about!

And as far as arnie, the pro-porn star, is concerned...I hope he loses big time and your professor has to eat his words.

He joked that usually his predictions are wrong. From what I gathered, he didn't seem enthused about the process. Commented on the circus atmosphere going with the recall.

I suspect he's a Republican, but I don't think he'll be a neocon.

Because it would be Wrong! :kick:

It really does depend on the field. But, if it's an intentional attempt to indoctrinate students, I don't think things will go as easily as they think it will. There's a lot of bright students out there and patterns show up sooner or later. Students can have a lot of say in the teacher-evaluation forms.

when I was in college back in the 1970's every politcal science professor was a left-wing radical, actually so were just about all professors whatever they taught, sigh. :-(

I thought he was a quasi-fascist determined to fellate every surviving WWII veteran. My bad.

GE is god!

what do you have against WWII veterans? Have you seen "Saving Private Ryan"? People got mowed down in the dozens just for having been in the front row on the troop transport. Those people, as teenagers, dealt with the most hellish existence imaginable, so Hitler would be dead and children would stop being strung up from lampposts for having parents who didn't hate the Jews enough.

I've got no issue whatsoever with WWII veterans. If Brokaw wants to fellate them, great.

But the constant greatest generation stuff is in the same vein as all the salutes to the heros and stuff. It all builds into America's national religion: Patriotism.

The last combat WWII veteran will probably die within the next decade, and will definitely die well within our lifetimes. They can have all the glory they want, and their descendents can muster. I don't see why it would matter if it feeds into Patriotism. Saving humanity from fascism and industrialized killfactories is justification enough for at least a little patriotism.

Seriously, The World under Hitler, Hirohito and Mussolini sucked voraciously, and would have sucked a million times worse had these people burned their draft cards. They can have a tickertape parade every day from now until doomsday, for all I'm bothered.

Respect does not require the sickening fawning of Brokaw.

terrible...how terrible

</sarcasm>

in order to build up hero worship that is an integral part of american fascism. After september 11th I saw Brokaw go from talkshow to talkshow blabbering on about the greatest generation and stirring up jingoistic sentiments. It was sickening. I believe in respecting the veterans and their sacrifices, but when Brokaw uses that to encourage a more militaristic american society I call bullshit.

One teacher out of how many? I am sure that he/she is an minority on campus. I was in the military when I was taking classes, the number of instructors that thought my profession was disgusting cannot be counted. I lived with it, got my degree and moved on. All I can say is that if your instructor was like a few of mine, he/she will engage in discussions and you will both learn somthing, that is the goal isnt' it?

and what he bases them on. What criteria does he use? Does he have any citations to authorities to back him up? Are there contrary authorities? What are the traditional definitions? (note: European definitions do not reflect the American political spectrum).

If you look into the matter, I think that you'll find that Fox is "reactionary" and CNN is predominantly "conservative." My guess is that if you do this, you'll be gaining- not losing- points with your professor for being inquisitive, while at the same time counteracting the right wing propaganda that you are hearing.

Just a thought~

Depa

If we delve into the issue again, I'll bring it up.

academia is not a bastion of conservatism( i know, i'm in it___academia that is).

More likely than not, most profs are liberal(maybe radical).

My question: if he was a liberal(or lefty), would you have the same reaction?(assuming that he would be saying__some say indoctrinating__leftist ideologies?)

The majority of professors I meat are liberal. I don't begrudge this guy for being conservative. It'll probably be more fun than anything else. I'm not the kind to get all upset when other opinions are presented. I'm relatively sure the class will be able to engage in civilized debate.

Yes or No.

First off, I realize that the way I phrased that sentence was a bit arrogant on my part. It's his classroom and he has the right to say what he wants. Basically, since it is a discussion class, I will not be hesitant to intervene and counter his arguments. I don't mean to do it in a disrespectful way.

I really don't mind debating political philosophy. However, what I mean by propaganda are RW talking points like "Every vote was counted in FL", "Saddam Hussein was involved in 9/11", "Do you want to put Hussein back in power?", etc...

If he were to push far-left propaganda, like espousing the virtues of Castro's Communist Cuba, I would be upset as well.

If he were to push far-left propaganda, like espousing the virtues of Castro's Communist Cuba, I would be upset as well.

Man, if certain DUers get wind of this quote...

Equal in the opposite direction IOW. A teacher should present facts only.

n/t

you're probably at least as well informed as he is, very likely more so . . . and you have a rich well of expertise to draw on right here on DU . . . challenge his more outrageous positions, and back your position up with facts . . . most of all, have fun . . . after all, how often do you get an opportunity like this? . . . :)

:wtf:

During four years of college I was the only liberal political science student (one other who called himself a conservative dem~ okay). My professors all were openly conservative. The up side for me was that once my affiliation was known, I was called to give the opposing side for every issue. This meant I really knew the material by test time and it was a great training ground for grad school. Maybe it was because I was forced to read every line of my assignments, but I received solid grades. I don't think a professor will care enough to change a grade.

economic strategy ever....

I failed to see it that way but did not argue the point because I was not politically involved at the time. Hopefully he didn't corrupt too many students.

... he'd even worked as a deputy for a relatively liberal elected official for a number of years.

But he was pretty balanced in his handling of the class, keeping the dicussion focused on factual and practical matters and leaving value judgements and matters of opinion mostly aside.

Its a really bad thing to do, i did it myself once almost failed something that i could have gotten a easy Aon if i had just taken it seirously