MovieChat Forums > Indoctrinate U (2007) Discussion > Testimonial

Testimonial

posted 16 years ago by lsdazrael
5 replies | jump to latest

As a graduate student in the humanities, I have witnessed firsthand how the political biases of university faculty often get in the way of the education these people are paid to provide. While most professors truly care about their students and the free expression of ideas, some individuals feel their position exists solely to provide them with a podium from which to preach their ideas. To be fair, this is true for both liberals and conservatives, but the overwhelming majority of university professors lean to the left, making the 'liberal bias' even more pronounced in academe.

Let me be the first to admit that, though I am in many ways liberal in my political beliefs, I have often decided to keep my mouth shut in class, or while writing a research project, in order to protect myself from receiving lower marks than I deserve because an idea I have might raise Republican red flags in an environment unwelcoming to alternative viewpoints. As an undergraduate you learn very quickly how to distinguish between the (majority of) professors who will allow you to differ from them, if you can support your opinion with solid research and thoughtful analysis, and the professors who will grade you based (at least partially) on your politics.

It is a sad fact of life that it is necessary for a student to make this distinction between the fair-minded professors and the ideologues, but if you want to succeed in academia, you need to learn when it is 'okay' to speak your mind and when you are better off pretending to conform. I guess you could say that makes me something of an intellectual prostitute, selling my political silence in return for a quality education, but maybe when more people like myself are in positions of power, we can put an end to this necessity; the Thought Police will be retired in shame.

As a final note, I did not attend Berkeley, or any other school notorious for its leftist leanings. I attended a large public university in a red state in the Midwest. The vast majority of my professors (whether they were open to new ideas or not) were card carrying Democrats. I am sure you will find my experiences are not unique.

[–] teumesmo 16 years ago

The problem lies in the fear of extremes, a thinker needs to know and understand the extremes and all that is between, but we are far from wishing to raise thinkers, instead we raise heirs, heirs to ourselves, and not to society. I hope I may not be falsely accusing the republicans, but when they purged Marx and the Communists/Anarchists, they also purged the mindset as of being and/or becoming a republican, so what we have is an insufferable political center compromising on economic theory, morality, and rationality.

[–] moretap 16 years ago

People don't raise thinkers when they know deep down (consciously or subconsciously) that the ideas they hold are not based on rationality. Training students to be critical thinkers also trains them to see the faults in a lot of the ideologies that professors hold.

It's not totally accurate, but it is a good indicator that when those leading in their field don't teach others to question it they are often full of it.

[–] badmofo6662004 16 years ago

What do you expect when you major in something like humanities... j/k :)

When I was going to the local community college, the instructors that talked about their political beliefs were mostly conservative, so my experience there was just the opposite of what was portrayed in the film. My one instructor told us that if we vote Democrat in the presidential election, we'll fail the class, lol. And another one of my instructors is a campus leader for Students for Concealed Carry on Campus (which, I actually don't disagree with). But, I don't think my political opinions affected my grades. I wrote papers on marijuana legalization, torture, media, military, labor unions, etc... and got good grades on them, even though my instructors were conservative (I always give all sides of the arguments though, so maybe that helps).

Now, I just started going to a small liberal arts college. I haven't gotten to know my professors very well, but, I've found most of the students are conservative. I think it's just because it's in rural Ohio. However, one of my classmates said her professor told her not to call people "black," but "african american." lol. But, again, that was in a Cultural Studies class, so, you have to expect crazy professors like that. I'm so glad I'm a computer science/math major.

I really don't think this bias is such a big problem that this film portrays. Students can think for themselves and come up with their own beliefs. Most colleges make you take "critical thinking" courses that encourage this also. I have a feeling that a lot people complaining about getting bad grades for their political stances just totally dismiss all other points of view in their school work, or make extreme fallacies (or generally did a bad job). I think any professor found to be discriminatory would get in serious trouble in most colleges.

Any other testimonials? I'm curious what other people's experiences are.

[–] lsdazrael 16 years ago

"What do you expect when you major in something like humanities"

Well played, sir!

To be fair, I had a 4.0 as an undergrad. I attribute some of my success to knowing when to keep my big mouth shut, though. There are certain ideas against which some professors will entertain no argument. True, there are relatively few who would try to indoctrinate -- most embrace the noble ideal of civil discourse in the classroom -- but those few who attempt to proselytize really ruin it for everyone.

Academe is a place where ideas should be encouraged to grow and interact, one with another; they shouldn't be stomped into the ground because one person has power over another!

Again, these people aren't the majority, but they are able to poison everyone's learning environment.

[–] 16 years ago

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