Is it acceptable for college professors and other academia professionals to use their positions of power over their classrooms to lobby for political ideologies and/or political figures?

All the "Pube" and "Dumbocrat" talk aside, is it fair for this overwhelmingly liberal group of professors to provide political commentary in discussions not even associated with politics and/or current events?

Common knowledge and widely accepted theory asserts that, academia, is inherently liberal in nature. Is it that conservatives are not capable of teaching? No...the most intelligent and accomplished instructor I've had in my life was conservative, perhaps more so than I. Is it that liberals find comfort in holding positions of great influence over those more impressionable? I'm doubt it...
It's really unclear why the majority of the scholarly world tend to lean to the left...

But I have two problems with it:

1 - Students are penalized for their own ideological views. Obviously, not all professors are so leftward that they don't respect the views of their students. However, there are some professors who unfairly evaluate papers and projects based not upon the objectivity of it's conclusions but rather the personal views. I've experienced it...a lot of people have experienced it...which leads to the next problem...

2- In an effort to avoid a bad grade, students suppress their own views, and say exactly what their professor wants to hear. Of course, if you agree with everything the professor says, this is not a problem. But a student with views that differ from those of the professor is limited to pleasing the professor...and not strengthening and developing his or her own "different" ideas.

Personally, I don't care if Nancy Pelosi gives me history lectures...I just don't want to feel like I can't explore my own views further through study and research for fear of making a bad grade.

If the scholarly community of our colleges and universities were as proportionally bipartisan as the country as a whole...there would not be a problem.

But that's not the case.

The higher the level of one's intelligence, the more liberal they become in their thought processes. Facts, plain and simple. Anyone can be uneducated and have to be told what to think as in the GOP. This has been the way of life for a long time, surprised it has taken you this long to realize it!

or is it that colleges want to brainwash students into a liberal thinking way?

Why?

quote:

Originally posted by JohnnyReb:
The higher the level of one's intelligence, the more liberal they become in their thought processes. Facts, plain and simple. Anyone can be uneducated and have to be told what to think as in the GOP. This has been the way of life for a long time, surprised it has taken you this long to realize it!

No...since you're taking jabs, I'd venture to say that college professors are people who've never been good at anything other than books/school...and can only use their fancy degrees to try and nurture their radical, "progressive" views. (It may be hard for you to grasp, but "different" and "changing" doesn't necessarily mean "good")

Most conservatives with such advanced degrees would have real jobs...making much more money.

Who's smart? The one who can get a great job...or the one who has a $60,000 degree and is doing nothing but trying to mold the minds of young people?

quote:

Originally posted by JohnnyReb:
Why?

this is something that i cannot explain, why colleges lead kids into this way of thinnking

J-Reb:

I didn't really ask why college professors are liberal...as indicated by my statement including "I don't care if Nancy Pelosi..." It may have been implied but I really just asked if it's fair for them to use their power and influence to support their political agenda.

Thanks for the as usual, useless input.

quote:

Originally posted by JohnnyReb:
The higher the level of one's intelligence, the more liberal they become in their thought processes. Facts, plain and simple. Anyone can be uneducated and have to be told what to think as in the GOP. This has been the way of life for a long time, surprised it has taken you this long to realize it!

That is complete and total BS.

Been there and endured that, Coug. Try being a politically AND theologically conservative pup at Wofford. Some of my conservative friends resorted to hand-printing in teeny-tiny letters in the corner of their tests and term papers the words "Some say..."

I would add a #3 to your list: It isn't education. And here's the ultimate irony: Those academic liberals who chide you for being narrow-minded are themselves infinitely more so. Bet any sum that they have read nothing that challenges their own entrenched socialist mindset.

My political science professor hasnt told us what side of the fence he leans toward. He assigned half the class the Obama book and half the McCain book, so I reckon that's about as fair as it can get.

I had a very liberal history professor last semester, I signed up for American History 1870-2000... what I got was the history of American women's and liberal movements.

quote:

Originally posted by Figg41:

quote:

Originally posted by JohnnyReb:
Why?

this is something that i cannot explain, why colleges lead kids into this way of thinnking

Those that can do, those that can't teach, those that can't teach work in government.

My Old Testament professor was an atheist.

My calculus teacher was a conservative, you just never know.

A study was done and the more scientific the degree the more conservative the professor tends to be. ( Chemistry, math, engineering, etc.)

The more "social" the more liberal, (education, social work, journalism, etc.)

quote:

Originally posted by JohnnyReb:
The higher the level of one's intelligence, the more liberal they become in their thought processes. Facts, plain and simple. Anyone can be uneducated and have to be told what to think as in the GOP. This has been the way of life for a long time, surprised it has taken you this long to realize it!

I doubt you should be talking about higher intelligence....or thought processes.....that's above your pay grade......

from the professors i've had here at winthrop, they seem to be leaning to the left

A lot of the 60's Age of Aquarius druggies and campus radicals are the professors (e.g. William Ayers)and journalists of today.

And as simplistic as it sounds, a lot of the liberalism in academia is all about peer pressure and the pocketbook. If you deviate from the McGovern/Fonda/Obama party line, you don't get invited to the high-brow wine & cheese parties. Even more importantly, you don't get your journal articles and books published. And you don't get tenure.

It is also a self-perpetuating cycle. Who do you suppose sits in the place of power to approve PhD dissertations? And who chooses to offer positions to faculty?