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Record for NoIndoctrination.org entry #113.

Georgia State University (GSU)

Dec. 12, 2002

http://www.gsu.edu

Course: SOCI 1160: Intro to Social Problems

Course Catalog Description: Introduction to Social Problems. A theoretical and empirical analysis of selected major social problems confronting American society.

Professor: Caroline Wood

Required? Met a General Ed./diversity/other requirement with a few course options.

Lecture Bias: Excessive

Comments: When she was explaining a subject, she would only present one point of view (hers) as the "correct" opinion. When she did bring up an alternative point of view, it was with a nod and a wink. Well, just for example's sake, on the first day of class, the professor (who was British) made fun of President Bush, lamented the Bourgeoisie, praised Marx, said that workers should own the means of production (but did not admit that the stock market is for that purpose), and said the only way the problems of the masses are ever solved are through "Revolution", which she wrote emphatically and in very large letters on the board.

Discussion Bias: Objectionable

Comments: For instance, when we discussed class, she said the plight of the poor is ONLY caused by the oppression from the rich. While that may be true in places like Iraq, she would not accept that, unfortunately, in America there is an element of personal responsibility (unless there is a serious psychological/mental problem). I said that while the nature of an unbringing in the ghetto is different than one in the suburbs, (in Georgia, at least) there are plenty of opportunities for the poor to reverse the situation for themselves. The best example is the HOPE Scholarship, which pays all the tuition at a GA public university and is awarded to anyone who graduates from a GA high school with a B average. It continues to pay as long as a B average is maintained. Also, there are afterschool programs, the Boys and Girls club, etc. While I was able to present my more centrist views in class, it took a lot of hand-raising and "excuse me"'s to get noticed, while everyone who affirmed her point of view got to speak almost immediately.

Readings Bias: Excessive

Comments: We had a "text" that was actually pretty neutral, but we never used it. All she ever talked about were her "special reading assignments" that she handed out every week. They were photocopies of these long, long articles and essays and, of course, they supported her views. They were all about 20-30 pages and were given to all 60 of so students. While it is understandable that she would not have given us white supremicist literature to read to "balance" the issue of racism, there are a number of conservative African-Americans that have written extensively about the overriding feeling that victimhood is the problem most plaguing that community. I was surprised that the stuff she gave us about class (upper, middle, lower) wasn't printed on red paper.

General Comments: First of all, this teacher was born and raised in England, which was not inherently bad, but it seemed as though she only had an academic understanding of the problems underlying American society. I am not against any kind of intellectual discussion, but she would not entertain any other idea whatsoever. For instance, when I said that yes, America did enable the existance of the Taliban in the first place, but qualified that statement by saying that the world community at the time (read: the U.N.) would have been at odds with our troops staying there to keep the peace, she would not hear it. She basically said that we caused all the oppression in Afghanistan and that was that. Even though if we were talking about the same thing 15 years ago, I would have said that we need to stay there to help reconstruction, and she would have said that we should get our Capitalist, Imperialist keisters out of there. Also, we had to write "response papers" about four topics of discussion. I did an experiment. I wrote two papers rather poorly, but regurgitating what she had said in class. I got an A on those. The two that I wrote well but from my own point of view, I got a C on. She said that the papers showed I wasn't "learning." In fact, in the syllabus, she stated that we would need to show we were "learning" in order to get good marks. My experiments proved that in order to "learn" you had to say, "well, before this class I thought ---. Now that I have learned better, I think ---." Very 1984. Very scary.

Rebuttal

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