Since last Thursday's Florida State game I have been paying close attention to the dialogue surrounding political campaigning at Duke sporting events.
Wednesday's Chronicle, however, directed my attention to a subject that draws out some of my stronger opinions: the tendancy for some professors to think a condescneding tone is appropriate with their students.
Granted, a certain number of people in almost any population will tend to be condescending (just as any other personality trait would be distributed). So a 'perfect' faculty in this sense may be impossible, but it does raise a number of questions in my mind.
Do professors know when they are condescending? I would hope not, otherwise I would guess they are doing it on purpose. So if they don't know, should a student let them know?
Would Professor Michael Munger appreciate me letting him know about his tone? I don't doubt the fact that he and other prefossors have some very insightful things to say within their areas of expertise. I do doubt that such information is of any use when it is combined with an inability to communicate effectively with students.
Andrew Donohoe
Trinity '05
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.