After taking numerous classes at this university, chances are at one point you have taken a class in which a professor gave a lecture or assigned a book that you did not agree with.
Occasionally, you may have a professor that projects his or her political beliefs directly onto students, which should never happen. Professors need to provide solely the facts and allow students to formulate their own beliefs.
Over the last few months, controversy has surrounded UW-Madison lecturer Kevin Barrett, as some of his lectures to students are about his beliefs of what happened on Sept. 11, 2001. That recent situation highlights the difficulties of determining what a professor should and should not say in a lecture.
There is a fine line professors must walk, as part of their job is to research events and to interpret information, while the other part of their job is to convey their discoveries and beliefs to students. When presenting their beliefs to students, it is important for professors to present information in a manner that allows for counterarguments and for rational discussion. UW-Madison history professor Jeremi Suri agrees.
""The role of the professor is not to create an assumed political view, but to encourage critical and original thought,"" Suri said. ""The best kind of classroom is one where students are thoughtful, learned and disagree on political views.""
Many if not all professors say they provide unbiased views to their students, and most of the time that is correct. Yet some professors subtly convey their political views by the books that they select for students to read.
If all of the books assigned for the semester provide information that is solely slanted in one particular direction, students can be brainwashed into thinking a certain way. For that reason, Suri said he likes ""to select books that challenge students and that disagree with each other.""
One could argue that students should not be so easily manipulated or convinced by such material, yet it is evident that some students are. After all, some people will base their votes for the upcoming November election solely on campaign advertisements, proving that everyone does not take the information they receive in context. Some students are the same way.
Therefore, it is imperative that professors give unbiased lectures and that they provide ample, non-slanted reading material to students to ensure that all students are able to create their own ideas and beliefs.
The ultimate goal of a college education is to expand a student's mind and to develop a rational level of thought, not to imprint political or ideological beliefs.
Taking what a professor says to be the absolute truth, or believing that an event transpired the way it did solely because a professor said so should never happen. Students need to be given facts and information and then be allowed to connect the dots themselves and thereby formulate their own conclusions and opinions.
To that end, taking what a professor says and then regurgitating it in essays and midterm tests does nothing in the quest and pursuit of knowledge. The best and most enriching classes are those that call for students to use unique and original thinking.
Then, and only then will students truly discover their own beliefs and ideals. Students would then know their professors are there for the right reason—for educating and not preaching.
