"If you cherish the freedoms of the United States, it would be hypocritical of you to be intolerant of the expression of opinions that differ from yours. I am a well-educated, thoughtful human being. I am well qualified to teach at the University ("universe"-ity), which should be a place for thoughtful and respectful sharing of diverse views. My students get trained in critical thinking: the capacity to take in a number of perspectives and weigh evidence and reasoning on their own, which they would not be able to do if there were not at least a few dissenters among us here. I mean, the business school gets the big bucks and military- and corporate-funded research dominate the campus. It's a rare class where a student would find points of view that challenge the corporate and geopolitical hegemony of the United States. So I feel sorry for the students whose parents would keep them from attending my classes or the University of Texas because of what I wrote. Don't you have faith that your children can think for themselves? Don't you trust them with a range of positions and approaches to knowledge? Haven't you prepared them to defend your family's values? Any viewpoint is welcome in my classes so long as the arguer can provide evidence and reasoning in support of claims. Contrary to popular mythology, I do not routinely fail conservative students; I do welcome their voices in class so long as respect for others and standards of argumentation are sustained." Uh-huh. You are rationalizing there, Ms. Professor. You and your kind are always telling us that there is no equality wherever there is a power relationship, correct? That is, if one person holds power over another, then the person over whom power is being exercised isn't exactly free to speak her, or his, mind. Even if they are told to "feel free" to speak up, they will still keep in the back of their mind, if they're intelligent and savvy, the unequal power relationship.
Well, guess what? In your tiny fiefdom of your classroom, exactly such a power relationship exists. You are the professor. They are the students. Your power resides in the grade that you give out. You can wax all flowerly and eloquently all you want about how you are open to opposing views provided they are supported with evidence and sound and are respectful of the rights of others, but that does not gainsay the unequal power distribution in that tiny fiefdom. All of your students, including the ones who agree with you, will always keep in mind -- unless they're stupid -- this power relationship.
I'm therefore sure that you flatter yourself regarding your views on how tolerant you believe you may be, but since evidence and sound reasoning are ostensibly important to you, I'd like to hear from your students whether or not what you say is actually true. See, I've been there. Done that. Seen first hand "feminist" professors at work (the term is semantically equal to the common definitions of "fascist"), and it ain't a pretty sight, in both senses of the word typically. So, unless you provide evidence to the contrary, I would have to assume that you delude yourself into believing that you are welcoming of contrary opinions. But even then, I'd wait until hearing from your students before agreeing with your opinions of yourself.
You are the professor. They are the students. Your power resides in the grade that you give outI teach my children that they must suck up to the teacher to get a grade from them especially if they disagree. If they think the teacher is a total jerk they need to save those thoughts and feelings for graduation day.
This teacher may think her students agree with her but she would probably be surprised how many merely tell tell her what she wants to here.
that's pretty intelligent by way of observation. I can only go so far to mitigate against the power relationships in the classroom it's true. But my classes are not political rallies. I gave an A to the president of the Young Conservatives of Texas. My teaching evaluations reflect the impression that my classes are spaces of relative freedom for the students. Really, what I love about teaching communication is that I have a set of concepts, a tool box, that enables students to debunk arguments and evidence and identify propaganda. They can apply all the concepts to me if they like. I encourage them to do so, actually. Never fear--there are no thought police here.