My professor is a kook!

[Skeptic]

I agree that the "at least one crazy professor per degree" requirement is probably true. You fell into the "Black studies" type. Other popular ones are the "alternative history" type and the "religious nutcase" type, as we see here.

 

[EeneyMinnieMoe]

I was treated to another hour and 15 minutes of this pseudo intellectual's ramblings today. Not only is she loony and obnoxious, she doesn't teach literature.

She rambles on about her own thoughts, current events she wants to talk about, "theories" that are totally unrelated to the subject, evolution, Henry Louis Gates, African history, African traditions, her own life, her life in Jamaica, her time in Canada, her nephew, ADD medication, why ADD isn't real, the educational system, what's wrong with the educational system, Dick Cheney, Islam, Christianity, religion, capitalism, colonialism, what's wrong with the wold today, black teenagers and jail, slavery, slavery in Africa or whatever else she wants to talk about and, once in a long while, has us open the book and read from African American literature. And her information on these subjects is less informed, complete and articulate than some of her student's.

Other literature/English professors I had, whether I liked them or not, respected them or not, thought they were smart or not, at least actually taught literature. They knew books. They talked about books. They had us discuss books. And they sounded like they actually belonged in the world of academia. Like they were doing something that could actually be called higher education.

This woman...I don't know what she is teaching. She'd be underwhelming in a decent high school.

A girl in my class turned to me and said "Why aren't we doing Toni Morrison or WEB DuBois or something? I listen to her and I think 'Why do I know more about African American literature than you do?!'"

Today, we had to hear her thoughts on "spirituality". She says she only attends church as a social gathering place and doesn't believe in religion but believes in "spirituality". She says she doesn't believe in "a man in the sky with a long beard" but believes in "a higher power that could be called God" who is "a force greater than us". Make of that what you will.

Another thing- how is it that so many atheists, which I guess this lady is, believe in some other variety of woo? And people who are irreligious, agnostic or secular. They don't believe in religion for a minute or are very, very skeptical of it but "The Secret", conspiracy theories, astrology, New Age, etc. they completely buy. I think I'd have more respect for the reverse, a theist who laughed at this corny silliness.

I got a copy of her book today- she assigned her own book- and I'm tempted to scan portions on it to share on the Forum, it's that silly and weird.

I told two classmates who aren't in the class about what goes on in the class and they a) burst into howls of laughter, b) wanted to know who it was so that they'd never have to take her.

One girl, a fellow skeptic, said "This woman's a professor?! A professor!? Even at this place?! I mean, she's a professor! She has a PHD! In something! No matter what that is in, she has a PHD! She wrote a dissertation! That kind of education should instantly preclude you from believing in stuff like that! You shouldn't be allowed to teach at a college if you believe in stuff like that!"

Which was my thought exactly.

 

[Sledge]

Are you going to be taking an exam based on this course?

 

[EeneyMinnieMoe]

No. There's a midterm, a term paper and a journal we have to keep. Yep, a journal. Participation is also 5 percent of the grade and in class presentations can get you 10 percent extra credit.

Edit: The skeptic classmate also wondered if the "positive energy" can't cancel out the back pain given by her ancestors' slavery. "I mean, doesn't one cancel out the other?". My friend joked that maybe the Prof.'s back pain is caused by her "thinking negative thoughts" about her ancestors and that maybe she should cut it out, then.

The other classmate joked that maybe the "positive energy" she needs is Bayer's. Then he joked that it might have some "negative energy" due to the Nazi scientist who headed the company and the alleged connection to Josef Mengele, in which case the sufferings of the Jews would be visited upon her, too.

 

[John Jones]

I agree that the "at least one crazy professor per degree" requirement is probably true. You fell into the "Black studies" type. Other popular ones are the "alternative history" type and the "religious nutcase" type, as we see here.

Womyn's studies were becoming popular about the time I graduated.

 

[Lucian]

No. There's a midterm, a term paper and a journal we have to keep. Yep, a journal. Participation is also 5 percent of the grade and in class presentations can get you 10 percent extra credit.

Edit: The skeptic classmate also wondered if the "positive energy" can't cancel out the back pain given by her ancestors' slavery. "I mean, doesn't one cancel out the other?". My friend joked that maybe the Prof.'s back pain is caused by her "thinking negative thoughts" about her ancestors and that maybe she should cut it out, then.

The other classmate joked that maybe the "positive energy" she needs is Bayer's. Then he joked that it might have some "negative energy" due to the Nazi scientist who headed the company and the alleged connection to Josef Mengele, in which case the sufferings of the Jews would be visited upon her, too.

How is a midterm not an exam?

 

[EeneyMinnieMoe]

How is a midterm not an exam?

Ah, I forgot to explain that the midterm is a paper.

 

[Dancing David]

When I studied computer engineering at a university we had a professor who was really into all kinds of conspiracies. The usual 9/11 stuff and all that. He also knew his computers good enough to be of great help in various projects we did. So despite his beliefs it was good to have him around.

Exactly! We all have our areas of utility and our areas of foolishness.

 

[Dancing David]

Well, he was abnormal, wasn't he?

To be fair-- when that class was taught, I'm pretty sure that there wasn't nearly as much known about the causes of schizophrenia as there is now. We can only work with the knowledge we have at the time, and then we learn better. Otherwise, we'd all still be wearing clothes like this...

I politely disagree, in fact the school I went to was known as a behaviorist school and every one else in the department disagreed with him.

It was a very popular theory for some, and not for others. The counter was always, "Then why can't they be reconditioned to not hear voices?"

Now in his defense, in group homes and other settings you usually try to get the clients to talk about something other than their symptoms because of the social reinforcement.

 

[LightinDarkness]

I just checked my school's website. Apparently this woman is actually an adjunct professor.

This would likely explain it. At most schools adjunct professors are the bottom of the pile and literally anyone with a degree can get in. As such, you run into some really brilliant ones...and some that are like yours.

 

[blutoski]

I had a biology professor who occasionally told odd stories like this to students. In his case, however, he did it on purpose, to see who wasn't paying attention. He was rather fond of Native American and African mythology, particularly the variations of the "trickster" archetype.

Anansi (and Anglicized variants such as Aunt Nancy).

 

[blutoski]

I've actually thought of getting my cousin to do a talk at SkeptiCamp about how Black skeptics deal with these cultural urban legends.

Aside from the genocide plots, there are thousands of much more mundane myths. One example is the widespread belief that Tommy Hilfiger doesn't want black people to wear his clothes. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that this was started by a competing clothing company (a la AMWAY vs Proctor & Gamble). But there's no getting this myth back into the bottle.

Anyway, there are plenty of black people who know this stuff is bunk, but I think that it's more difficult to debunk ethnic myths from within the culture in question.

 

[dudalb]

Long I found out that abscence of a College Degree does not mean someone is stupid, and that possesion of a PHD does not mean one is smart.
And of course there is that old joke about how often no one is as dumb as an expert once you get them out of their area of expertise.

 

[Sledge]

Ah, I forgot to explain that the midterm is a paper.

Evidently I wasn't clear enough: will you be required in any way to present proof of what you are supposed to have learned from this course, and if so would failing in some way negatively impact on your life?

 

[Paul2]

As a professor myself, I think you should

1. Go to her and politely tell her that you don't feel like you're learning a lot. Have a polite conversation. When (if) you don't get satisfaction that way,

2. Go to the chair of the department and politely tell the chair that you don't feel like you're learning a lot. Have a conversation.

That may seem politically dangerous, but it's the proper course. Be respectful at all times but don't back down on the substance of your claim.

Give her and the higher-ups a chance to do the right thing (whatever that is in this case).

 

[zerospeaks]

Are you going to lecture us now Paul2?

I'm just foolin ya

 

[dudalb]

I hate to stereotype...but...I have noted that a high number of the worst offenders when it comes to not teaching the subject but indulging in rants about their pet theories (often having nothing to do with subject of the course) are English Professors. There must be a reason for this....

 

[quixotecoyote]

This would likely explain it. At most schools adjunct professors are the bottom of the pile and literally anyone with a degree can get in. As such, you run into some really brilliant ones...and some that are like yours.

Naw, adjunct instructors like me were the true barrel scrapings.

 

[fuelair]

I'm graduating from college this year, if all goes well, and am now on my last semester before I get a Bachelor's.

As part of a Pluralism and Diversity requirement that's mandatory to graduate, I had to take an African American studies class and took an African American literature class.

I'm not too happy about having to take the class- nothing against African American literature at all, just that the class didn't fit into my schedule, isn't at a good time and I didn't want to take it of my own accord- but I'm pretty unhappy about the professor. She seems like a sweet lady but doesn't seem like the best or most well educated teacher or the smartest person, to be frank, but that's the least of it.

She believes the Reagan adminstration delibrately planted drugs in the black community.

She tells us about "positive thinking" and how "the universe responds to positive and negative thinking". She told us so when someone offhandedly complained he had a hard time on the paper and she recommended he "think positive" so the universe will help. "Negative thoughts" will only make you write a worse paper, she said.

She believes she can feel the pain of her ancestors as they were taken to America on slaves ships. She blames her back pain on it and tells us she believes each of us might feel the experiences of our ancestors.

She says she prays to nature. Calls nature "Her".

When trying to explain the Out of Africa theory, she seemed to think Watson and Crick discovered it and Leakey was involved and seemed to confuse Lucy with Ardi.

She says she thinks Dick Cheney started two wars and shot his friend in the face because of trauma in his childhood. Yes, she actually said that. When? When explaining the theory of cognitive dissonance, which she says is the explanation behind slavery and racism. "Cognitive dissonance" apparently also made Dick Cheney delibrately shoot his friend in the face.

When she talked about the infamous Central Park Jogger case, she said that the "alleged victim" was taken to the hospital where she "Mysteriously FORGOT! The whole thing!" and it was a conspiracy between the victim and the police.

And she says 9/11 may have been a conspiracy designed to provide justification for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And more.


Anyone ever had a professor like that? It's the first time I've ever had a teacher like this, in all four years at college. It may be unkind of me but I sometimes wonder how she became a professor. She belongs on Oprah, not in college.

Quotas and PC fears will often do this, but I can't say in this case.

 

[EeneyMinnieMoe]

This would likely explain it. At most schools adjunct professors are the bottom of the pile and literally anyone with a degree can get in. As such, you run into some really brilliant ones...and some that are like yours.

I gotta say, all of the adjunct professors I've had so far were very smart, very professional, very articulate and very adult. All of them. Except this one.

Even if I had mixed feelings about them personally, had a few problems with their class or teaching method, thought they lacked experience, thought they were needlessly harsh graders, thought they made mistakes, thought they were a little pompous or were a little boring, thought they should have shown a little more kindness and patience towards their students, thought they were a bit full of it, rolled my eyes at some of what they said, thought they were a little wrong about the material, thought they missed the point from time to time, thought they couldn't control the loud idiots in the class, thought they were obnoxious, thought they spent too much time on some things and not enough on others, favored their pets, thought they had flaws as teachers or human beings, weren't great at explaining things or whatever it was, I had respect for their intelligence and knowledge of the subject. You could see they were very smart and knowledgeable people. Not so with this woman.

And none of their short comings even came close to this woman's. Not even close. If there was a problem with them, it was a very minor one and I'd still have recommended them to anyone who wanted to take their class. It was the type of problem that took them from an A to B plus. This woman, on the other hand, is a D minus.

She's the only one I've met who not only should not be teaching college but should not be teaching middle school. The only one.

Only one in four years I've had this lack of respect for.