Liberal Professors?
So I was looking at the Election Pulse on facebook this evening. I noticed that in all of the highlighted races they have listed, Democrats led in all but 2 of the races. (One race was for Governor in Texas where IND led, and the other the Governor race in Michigan where the GOP led).
I know that college aged people tend to be more liberal, and facebook is college aged kids (for the most part). But I wonder how many of these kids are influenced by their professors. I know that at Bethel most of (at least in the Poli Sci department) are more left leaning. I have heard from friends it’s the same at Concordia Moorhead, St. Johns, and pretty much all public universities.
I can see a college kid being swayed by their professor. Most professors lecture with authority and can put their own personal agenda on things. I had one professor (who I won’t name) who (in my opinion), instead of giving a lecture with the information, was really more preaching and indoctrinating their liberal views.
I, on the other hand, also had a professor, G.W. Carlson, (who proclaims to be on the left side of the spectrum) who gave lectures that would just present the facts. He presented every side of the political spectrum, and really left it up to our choosing. If you would talk to him after class and ask his opinion, the he would give it.
I wish that more profs would be like G.W. He was a great prof, and he argued for each side like he truly believed it (except for the far left and far right). He didn’t indoctrinate, and only gave his opinion when asked.
Now those examples are from a private Christian school. If you talk to people at a public school, like the U of M Morris they’ll say it’s even worse.
There have been attempts at an Academic Bill of Rights (feel free to google it), which would try to ensure the facts are being given, without bias, and letting the students decide on their own.
My questions to you are thus:
- Why is it that professors are (usually) liberal?
- How big of an effect does it have on the students?
- What do you think about an Academic Bill of Rights?
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Here’s a good site, if you aren’t already awares:
http://www.studentsforacademicfreedom.org/
I must say that this issue probably doesn’t bother me like it should. Mostly because, well, I am liberal. If it were conservative bias we were talking about, I would probably be more up in arms. Hence, I see your point.
Comment by Hannah — November 1, 2006 @ 8:28 am
Yeah, I’ve been to that site before.
I also credit you for seeing my point. (In my opinion) That is one thing that most people of your political orientation don’t see.
Comment by bleaus — November 1, 2006 @ 7:49 pm
I have no real idea why certain groups of people tend to lean one way or the other… partly because I never really bothered to actually figure out which side believes what. I have better things to do.
But I would say that it probably does have a big effect on students. People are impressionable. It may take a few years for real change, but impressions do last.
As for an Academic Bill of Rights, I do not think it is a realistic possibility. It would be too hard to enforce and it could easily be abused by people claiming bias when there really was none. Something like this should really be handled by the schools themselves than the government anyway. People know that a liberal college is going to have liberal swing, so it is not like they are being deceived.
Sure, it gets annoying if you are on the other side, but our churches have been pushing their agendas through impressions as much as professors have been pushing theirs. Television and media in general do the same thing. It seems strange to try and target professors when the problem (if it is a problem) is much more expansive than that.
Parents also push their ideals on their children. Obviously, this should be allowed. I think that any useful bill that would actually help would have to define the problem a little better. Where is the difference between professors, pastors, and parents?
Comment by babada — November 2, 2006 @ 10:25 am
I think the trying to enforce people with one viewpoint representing all viewpoints won’t achieve the desired effect. Some people (such as GW apparently) will do it right, and those people probably don’t need this. Those who aren’t already doing it likely will unintentionally butcher viewpoints due to ignorance or misunderstanding, or subtly twist other viewpoints to be more negative. It also brings up the issue of which viewpoints to represent (politics is not a two-sided thing like the major parties would have people believe). If anything is made mandatory, a better approach may be a simple warning that it may not be a balanced representation of multiple viewpoints, and that the position of the instructor may not even really be the viewpoint they claim.
Comment by Jeremy — November 2, 2006 @ 8:43 pm