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368

Professors Are Being Watched: ‘We’ve Never Seen This Much Surveillance’ (www.nytimes.com)

submitted 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) by breakfastmtn@lemmy.ca to c/politics@lemmy.world

32 comments fedilink hide all child comments

Scrutiny of university classrooms is being formalized, with new laws requiring professors to post syllabuses and tip lines for students to complain.

College professors once taught free from political interference, with mostly their students and colleagues privy to their lectures and book assignments. Now, they are being watched by state officials, senior administrators and students themselves.

. . .

And several states, including Texas, Ohio and Florida, have created laws requiring professors to publicly post their course outlines in searchable databases.

The increased oversight of professors comes as conservatives expand their movement to curb what they say is a liberal tilt in university classrooms. In the last couple of years, they have found sympathetic ears in state legislatures with the power to pressure schools, and their efforts have gained momentum as the Trump administration has made overhauling the politics and culture on campuses a focus.

But all of this, some professors and free-expression groups say, is leading to a wave of censorship and self-censorship that they argue is curbing academic freedom and learning.

MBFC
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[–] panda_abyss@lemmy.ca 100 points 7 months ago (5 children)

The panic of people who have never been to school and what they think happens there is so stupid.

Before university I only ever knew a handful of non white kids.

During university I met and studied with tons of friends from every background. It was not the system indoctrinating me, it was putting a bunch of people in a room with a shared interest turns them into friends and suddenly all the stereotypes fall apart.

The truth is when you get to know people of different cultures/orientations then you realize we're all basically the same. We have the same needs and the same wants. We have different languages, clothes, religions, sexualities. None of that really matters though.

[–] KingGordon@lemmy.world 40 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Exactly. Its not indoctrination. Its becoming an educated adult. Only morons think otherwise. Educated people tend to be liberal. Why? BECAUSE THEY ARE EDUCATED.

[+] Turret3857@infosec.pub 8 points 7 months ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

[deleted]

[–] BurntWits@sh.itjust.works 1 points 7 months ago (2 children)

For most of Canadians and I think Americans, liberal = anything left of centre, while conservative = anything right of centre. I know that’s not what those strictly mean but that’s the generally accepted definitions here at least, and I’m pretty sure in the states too.

[–] Uruanna@lemmy.world 5 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (1 children)

Canadians and Americans are wrong and it pollutes the discourse because it pretends that there's nothing other than liberalism on the left. Not sure about Canada because there's actually more than 2 parties, but the US Democratic party is not even left of center, it's left of far right, but using the term liberal masks that and pretends they're left. Doesn't Canada's "actually left from center" party still have a hard time getting recognized as a real alternative? Do they call that party liberal or do they distinguish it from that other "slightly more left than the conservatives" party?

[–] BurntWits@sh.itjust.works 2 points 7 months ago

For most people they don’t think of liberalism as a specific thing, they literally just consider liberal and left to be the same thing, and conservative and right to be the same thing. It’s not that they’re trying to say nothing left of liberalism is legitimate or something, it’s just that literally everything left is under the branch of liberalism. It’s not thought of as a specific subset of the left, it is the left, and various degrees of leftism are all considered part of liberalism. Again, not saying that’s correct obviously, it’s just how most people here see it.

Yeah, the NDP (New Democratic Party) is what you’re thinking of. They’ve only really had one good shot at having their party leader elected for Prime Minister, but then he got cancer and died from it. The NDP still wins local areas though. A lot of the right wing voters here aren’t even necessarily conservative, just anti-liberal. I’ve known lots of conservatives who would happily vote for the NDP too, just not the liberals. We also have the Green Party which is more of an environmental party who are useful for approving conservation efforts but don’t have a serious shot at PM. They have some great local leaders though. Then there’s the Bloc Québécois who are only in Quebec obviously, and they stand for French rights. They do quite well in Quebec typically but again, no shot at PM.

[–] Peppycito@sh.itjust.works 1 points 7 months ago

This Canada defines Liberal = banks and Conservative = energy

[–] bearboiblake@pawb.social 6 points 7 months ago (1 children)

It's well known that reality has a left-wing bias.

[–] panda_abyss@lemmy.ca 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I think this is just a nicer way of saying that most of the lowest 30% of IQ people are right wing.

[–] bearboiblake@pawb.social 3 points 7 months ago (1 children)

mandatory reminder that IQ is bullshit. but honestly, it's not really anything to do with intelligence, I'm far left and I'm pretty dumb. it's more about education really, and critical thinking. It sounds kinda rude but most people are kinda like NPCs and just go along with whatever they hear most loudly and prevalently from people they trust.

[–] panda_abyss@lemmy.ca 3 points 7 months ago

Sure, IQis bullshit, but a large number of people are functionally illiterate and seemingly incapable of any form of advanced reasoning.

[–] notwhoyouthink@lemmy.zip 5 points 7 months ago

But don’t you see…what you experienced at uni is exactly what they are so ‘afraid’ of.

The oppressor and those carrying out their work for free love nothing more than a population that spends their whole lives just as you did before you went through formal education, and even better if even more isolated and lacking in resources.

That’s why they say ‘woke’ ad nauseam, and are now attacking colleges and harassing professors. That’s why so many professional degrees have been stripped of that title. That’s why Fox News and MAGAts bristle at anything relating to higher education; it’s not about them feeing inferior (which they do to a degree), it’s about keeping the electorate desperate and dumb enough to keep voting against their own interests in the hope that the billionaire class will save them - because their critical thinking skills and sense of their place in the world has been stunted and distorted enough to never question what they’re told and eventually become handy mouthpieces for whatever reason they’re given that explains their desperation. (Hint: it’s not the brown or queer ones)

[–] Yondoza@sh.itjust.works 5 points 7 months ago

In addition, the generation of knowledge is inherently a progressive trait. It acknowledges that we don't have all the answers but with effort we can find them and that we will need to change our world view to accept them.

Conservatism is the resistance to change, putting value in tradition over novel ways of thinking. It is antithetical to knowledge generation.

This means institutions that are designed to generate knowledge will not foster conservative ideals.

[–] Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works 1 points 7 months ago

Sounds like the woke mind virus to me... /s

[–] HexesofVexes@lemmy.world 22 points 7 months ago

What they think these tip lines will give: "My professor is dangerously woke, he used someone's pronouns today and is clearly some kind of terrorist"

What they'll actually get: about 1000 variations of "This course is too hard; I shouldn't have to attend the classes to pass"

Source: I teach at a university and we get a few if these every year; "ghosts" who think that paying a fee magically entitles them to a passing grade regardless of the quality of work they submit.

[–] Alpha71@lemmy.world 15 points 7 months ago

So basically the red states are doing everything to make their students stupider. Got it.

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 11 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Canadian scientists are being advised by university lawyers to only fly into the US, and we have pre arranged legal representation on retainer. But, I refuse to spend my grant money on US symposia and either I present remotely or not at all.

I've been on a US watchlist since I walked by the US consulate in Toronto on the night of the Iraq bombings and was identified from a photo.

[–] BlindFrog@lemmy.world 5 points 7 months ago

How did you find out you were on a watchlist?

[–] leriotdelac@lemmy.zip 6 points 7 months ago

Welcome to Russia 2022... Oh wait...

[–] CharlesDarwin@lemmy.world 6 points 7 months ago (2 children)

The same people that have been sending little Eichmanns into classrooms for decades to try to "get" professors saying something they don't like are the very same asshats that queen out about being "cancelled" and cosplay at being "free speech absolutists", LOL.

What conservatives have actually been cancelled, I'd like to know? As far as I know all of them still have a voice, and are platformed more than ever.

[–] bassomitron@lemmy.world 6 points 7 months ago

It's because they don't actually care about free speech. It's the typical fascist quotes people always copy pasta everywhere. They're hypocrites and they legitimately do not give a fuck. It was always an excuse to silence critics of fascism.

[–] generichate1546@lemmynsfw.com 1 points 7 months ago

Charlie Kirk was cancelled

[–] TemplaerDude@sh.itjust.works 5 points 7 months ago (1 children)

It’s just a joke with America at this point, they’re all looking at this same puzzle that solves out to “fascism” but it’s missing a single piece and everyone is collectively pretending they can’t figure it out.

[–] bassow@lemmy.world 2 points 7 months ago

It's not even about missing a piece anymore as much as wilfully holding it upside down.

[–] Lojcs@piefed.social 5 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Posting syllabuses online, what a novel concept

[–] bassomitron@lemmy.world 1 points 7 months ago

Yeah this is a weird one. When I was going to college, all classes had a basic syllabus posted in the class description/overview. It was extremely helpful when looking to find a less work intensive elective.

[–] Pronell@lemmy.world 5 points 7 months ago

I'm just here to say that "We've never seen this level of surveillance" is a weirdly hilarious thing to say.

Not saying this isn't a horrible situation at all, just giggled at that.

[–] renrenPDX@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 7 months ago

The uneducated are easier to manipulate. Don’t want them to be too smart for Fox News.

[–] daannii@lemmy.world 3 points 7 months ago

It's also for AI companies to steal more data and claim they can teach better.

[–] lennybird@lemmy.world 3 points 7 months ago

There's a relevant part of the famous anti-fascist video from the US army fresh off of dealing with nazis that has a pretty relevant part pertaining to purging academia.