Politics in the Classroom

I got an interesting phone call from my younger sister this afternoon who is a junior at Towson University outside of Baltimore, Maryland. She proceeded to express a deep frustration directed toward a class she was enrolled in: sociology of race, class, and gender. She told me that she had just sat through a power point presentation focused on the shortcomings of the Bush administration. The presentation accused the administration of passing more laws to restrict rights of woman exceeding those had existed before the passage of the 19th amendment. She asked the teacher if the class would be tested on the material. Her professor said that anything on the power point was fair game. My sister proceeded to ask for examples or references toward the source of the information presented. A classmate echoed my sister's request, demanding the same. The teacher replied that if they wanted more information, she would e-mail it to them or they could talk to her after class, but the material presented was indeed factual. My sister and her classmate then left the class early.

My sister's account of the debate frustrated me as well. I understand that everyone has their own political opinions, and no matter their basis, they should be respected equally. However, I still find it difficult to listen to a debate or read a piece that goes against my political leanings and stay open-minded and neutral to see if I can learn something. Nonetheless, I value the importance in doing so.

My argument against this professor's opinion and presentation of supposed facts was the setting. In the classroom, I believe professors have the responsibility to leave their political opinions at the door. If they want to present facts that they believe will serve a beneficial supplement to a point in a lecture, they should include their sources, just as if a student would have to if they submitted an essay.

I do not see anything wrong with professors being up front with their students when it comes to their political opinions, nor do I see anything wrong with using the subject of politics as an impetus for a lecture or debate. However, testing students on unreliable facts or opinions and requesting time outside of class for clarification does not seem beneficial to the student or class.