I have a professor with a clear agenda. What should I do?

[KungPoweChicken]

I have a female professor with a clear feminist/man hating agenda. The semester is ending, and I can't believe I've lasted in the class this long.

The class is Anthropology. But the way she teaches it, you would think the class was called "Women's Studies." I've got to do something about it. I'm just not quite sure what to do yet.

To cover herself, the work she assigns is related to anthropology, but it's all about the struggle of women! It's not right, and it is terribly biased.

To sum, the class had to watch two documentaries. Both documentaries were about women. We also watched a movie. The three main characters in the movie were women, and the movie was based on a true story. We also had to read two books, both written by women, which were both about the struggle of women.


How can I stop this injustice from continuing to happen? I'm only one of a few guys in this class, so I think I'm one of the only ones who notices...

[chicagogreen]

what is the class about?  what is the title?  what does the course catalog or references to past incarnations of the class say about it?

[Roy H.]

How can I stop this injustice from continuing to happen?

You can't.  You have to suck it up, go along with it, and give the professor what she wants to hear.

Over my seven years of education, I dealt with a lot of professors who had a different world view than mine.  The best ones graded me fairly for my thought process, rather than my viewpoint.  Unfortunately, a number of them -- including the former President of the college I graduated from -- didn't grade fairly.  At the end of the day, I got to speak my mind and stand on principle, but it didn't help my GPA much.

If you think this professor is going to grade you down for having a contrary viewpoint, your choices are 1) compromise your viewpoint, or 2) stick to your values, and risk the consequences.

If there's an anonymous evaluation at the end of the course, I'd fill it out.  You could talk to the Department Head, or even the Dean, but you risk painting yourself as a problem child, especially if this is a respected professor.

[Lucky17]

There ought to be an evaluation process at the end of the term where you can comment on the course (and anonymously). The instructor's department needs to have some feedback from students.

If the course content doesn't line up with the syllabus or the catalog description for the course, the department ought to know.

[fairweatherfan]

I had a similar situation in a literature course once.  My advice is not to fight her directly because you'll lose and your grade will suffer.  This is doubly true if this is your major. 

Instead, suck it up, do the best you can in the course (including catering to her viewpoint if necessary), and butcher her on the evals.  Don't frame it as "man-hating" or make personal attacks, focus on the professor not fulfilling your expectations for the class by presenting such a narrow range of material.  Talk about what you hoped to learn from the course and how the material used let you down.  If your perceptions are accurate, this won't be the first time the department will have heard about this.

I'd add that unless she's evaluating you unfairly for being male, this is not an "injustice", it's just a biased presentation of material.  Plenty of professors have biased their courses in the opposite direction.

[Redz]

I wonder if you would have noticed if it was a male professor and all of the authors etc... were male.

[angryguy77]

I would suck it up and tell her what she wants to hear. After the final grade is given, I'd talk to the dept chair. You probably won't get anywhere, but who knows. 

[KungPoweChicken]

How can I stop this injustice from continuing to happen?

You can't.  You have to suck it up, go along with it, and give the professor what she wants to hear.

Over my seven years of education, I dealt with a lot of professors who had a different world view than mine.  The best ones graded me fairly for my thought process, rather than my viewpoint.  Unfortunately, a number of them -- including the former President of the college I graduated from -- didn't grade fairly.  At the end of the day, I got to speak my mind and stand on principle, but it didn't help my GPA much.

If you think this professor is going to grade you down for having a contrary viewpoint, your choices are 1) compromise your viewpoint, or 2) stick to your values, and risk the consequences.

If there's an anonymous evaluation at the end of the course, I'd fill it out.  You could talk to the Department Head, or even the Dean, but you risk painting yourself as a problem child, especially if this is a respected professor.

Thanks for the reply. I have been resigning myself to the fact that there's nothing I can do, though I wish I could. I just find the class offensive many times, and I think the books, movies, etc., relay her beliefs and not necessarily what the course should.

[Chris]

You can't.  You have to suck it up, go along with it, and give the professor what she wants to hear.

Yup.  One thing I learned very quickly in college, particularly taking sociology classes, is that its not as much what you know, it is what the professor is looking to hear.  If you can determine accurately what a professor is looking for, then you are in good shape.

And honestly, I think it is an immensely important skill to learn for life beyond college.  You aren't going to use much of the stuff you learn from those classes.  The chances of you having a job where you need to know details from an anthropology class are very slim.  However, if you want to be successful in just about any field, you need to learn to read people, find out what they are looking for, and then gear your answers towards that.  

[feckless]

While it clearly sounds like this professor is bent I have to say my first reaction is many women have had to suck it up in much the same situation for centuries.  Wrongs can never make a right but there must be something you can learn from your situation.

I am male but have three daughters--just to fill in some questions.

[KungPoweChicken]

I would suck it up and tell her what she wants to hear. After the final grade is given, I'd talk to the dept chair. You probably won't get anywhere, but who knows. 

I have been thinking about writing the department chair a letter. Nothing will probably come of it, but it's definitely worth a try. 

[Lucky17]

Instead, suck it up, do the best you can in the course (including catering to her viewpoint if necessary), and butcher her on the evals.  Don't frame it as "man-hating" or make personal attacks, focus on the professor not fulfilling your expectations for the class by presenting such a narrow range of material.  Talk about what you hoped to learn from the course and how the material used let you down.  If your perceptions are accurate, this won't be the first time the department will have heard about this.

This is good advice. Frame your criticisms this way, they are much more likely to be received.

[KungPoweChicken]

I wonder if you would have noticed if it was a male professor and all of the authors etc... were male.

Probably. But usually classes that are covering some type of history (before 1950s) naturally have males more relative to the criteria that did important things. It seems this lady goes out of her way to find "interesting" stories and triumphs about women. That's what I have a problem with.

[Chris]

Thanks for the reply. I have been resigning myself to the fact that there's nothing I can do, though I wish I could. I just find the class offensive many times, and I think the books, movies, etc., relay her beliefs and not necessarily what the course should.

Welcome to Liberal Arts education.  Unless the class is for a hard science, there just is so much room for interpretation by these professors.  You just can't get too bent out of shape by it.  And I would not be surprised if part of the professor's goal is to get you a little offended, so you will give the topics more thought.  

[Tai]

I thought the teacher was grading you harsher because you were a guy.

It sounds like a weird theme for the class, for sure, but what exactly is the problem then? Are you being asked to answer questions that only women/girls could?