OP/ED: Jihad Jane teaches Political Science

People learn more from learning to overcome mistakes than from dealing with successes- Edison proved this profoundly. In a classroom with a stated agenda what are going to be the mistakes? If one disagrees with the basis of the arguments put forward and the opposite position is held by a grader (herein Professor) then inherent difficulties regarding the argument (topic) are ipso facto dualistic at a minimum.

If this class (the one in this thread) were a class in Socratic reasoning, oratory or debate then I could more easily agree. However, this is a class on Politics with a specific slant and bias- hence trying to disprove the same would not be in concert with the class goals nor would these efforts be as appreciated by ones self and others as say analyzing the basis for the statements made in support of the class thesis. Perhaps through this analysis a different 'conclusion'* could be deduced. This would not necessarily follow as there is a real concern that no conclusion could be reached (other than to conclude not to conclude).

*based entirely upon supposition taken from the Prof's web site that may or may not be correct in itself

To put this another way-
whomever takes this class better be fairly anti-administration (government) upfront or be willing to ascribe to that thinking or brace themselves for a very tough journey
(I base this on experience)
.

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i agree with you on certain points. Yes this is a political class, however this is an interesting perspective to take. Why should the opposition to what is currently going on be labeled as wrong and be shunned by the people. Maybe she is right. Maybe the US is turning into a police state, look at the patriot act.

Do you honestly think that any rational scholarship can be created from information culled from Alex Jones and Jeff Rense?

She might as well include the Weekly World news in her sources.

The thing is, I don’t care what her political viewpoint is. If, however, she is going to teach a senior level college course, then she has an obligation to her students to allow them to form their own opinions based on a rational evaluation of the evidence. This includes a critical evaluation as to the quality and veracity of the evidence presented, both qualities that are sorely lacking in not only Jones’ and Rense’s websites, but in all of the other sites she links to on her home page.




[edit on 8-4-2005 by HowardRoark]