Subcultural engagement for the 21st Century...
Barbelith is a new kind of community (find out more)...
You can login or register.

Underground > Conversation >

Am I allowed to correct my History Professor?

Tuna Ghost takes rad lessons
(prev. Tuna Ghost will work for dope)

01:04 / 24.03.02

...or would that be an asshole thing to do?

Here's the deal: We're studying Greece, right? And we're going over what Greek mythology says about how the Trojan War started. She asked what caused Paris to get Helen. I raise my hand and begin to tell the story of the golden apple with Kallisti written on it, which, according to the Principia Discordia, means "To the Prettiest" (even if that's not what it means, "To the Prettiest" was what was written on the apple anyway). I only get to the part where Eris lobs the apple in the midst of the gods and goddesses because she stops me and says "No, that's not how it started. Who else knows?"

Apparently, her version started with Atnena, Aphrodite and Hera approaching Zeus and asking who was the prettiest. Which is fine if you want a short version of the story, but mine was by no means incorrect. I let it slide, as it's really no big deal.

Later on, when studying Japan, she states that Zen is native to Japan. This is downright incorrect. As I'm sure you all know, it was imported from China, which got it from India when Bodhidharma, known as the first patriarch of Zen (called Ch'an in chinese), went north to China. It finally got to Japan when Dogen brought it over from China. She's also come up with the following "facts":

1. Women were treated badly in all of Hellenic (or possibly hellenistic. Whichever one saw the wars with Persia) Greece

2. Athens was the reigning power for all of Hellenic Greece until Alexander the Great conquered it

3. Alexander the Great turned back from India because he wanted to be with his wives and children

These are plainly false. I can understand her making odd claims as to the meaning of Taoism or Buddhism, as she's not a philosopher but a history teacher, but now she's teaching my classmates false material. Should I say something or let it slide? Am I just a smart-ass snob? Does it bother anyone else when you see an educator teaching incorrect information as true?

[ 24-03-2002: Message edited by: Johnny the zenarchist ]

01:23 / 24.03.02

that sounds a bit worrying. One or two mistakes maybe would be understandable, but a whole series of them implies some level of professional incompetence.

suggestion: mention one of the incorrect statements in a non-accusatory way to her, and see how she reacts. If you get a hostile or defensive response, don't bother going any further with her, instead talk to one of her superiors. Oh, and let everyone else in the class know.

but if your uni is anything like mine or every other one I've heard of, they'll never stop people teaching for something as minor as incompetence. The only way lecturers get fired is if they cost the university money or get it bad publicity.

11:58 / 24.03.02

quote:Originally posted by fridgemagnet:
but if your uni is anything like mine or every other one I've heard of, they'll never stop people teaching for something as minor as incompetence. The only way lecturers get fired is if they cost the university money or get it bad publicity.

God, I'm glad to hear that.

11:58 / 24.03.02

You are DEFINITELY allowed to correct your History professor, as far as I'm concerned - particularly if they're teaching you something that is untrue. Don't think about it in immediate terms, just think about exam time etc.

No lecturer is ever going ot be completely accurate however and the realm of human knowledge is too bloody vast for any one person to know everything - so if you have some specific branches of knowledge that they don't have, you have to expect errors. I've taught undergraduates and have been corrected by them on occasion.

My only advice is to check your facts and bring them up the following week. For example - with the golden apple 'kallisti' thing - there are almost certainly several different versions of that myth. There always are. It's entirely possible that they're not familiar with that one. It would be bad if they were a classicist, but as a historian, that's fairly normal - history's a BIG area.

I'd go and find the relevant quotes, photocopy them and give it to them at the beginning of the following lesson. In the course of the lesson I would definitely advise you to SENSITIVELY suggest that they may be wrong. Maybe by asking a question like "Sorry - I thought that Zen came out of... - is there anywhere you would suggest I go to read up about this more?"

11:58 / 24.03.02

I was in a programming tutorial last weekend and the lecturer kept pronouncing 'caret' as 'carrot'. No big deal, but mildly irritating because he kept doing it. Thought it wiser just to shut up though.
In your case I would sensitively point it out at the end of the tutorial. I am sure they will be glad to see that you are genuinely interested.

[ 24-03-2002: Message edited by: Buk ]

Tryphena Absent

19:48 / 24.03.02

Every lecturer in the department I study under pronounces stereotype in a weird way. If they were North American maybe I'd be OK with that but they're all from the South of England. I keep my mouth shut except for the giggling.

Tuna Ghost takes rad lessons
(prev. Tuna Ghost will work for dope)

23:42 / 24.03.02

quote:Originally posted by Tom Coates:
Maybe by asking a question like "Sorry - I thought that Zen came out of... - is there anywhere you would suggest I go to read up about this more?"

This is probably the best way to approach the problem, but I'll feel weird asking this woman where I can research Zen when I've been studying it (as much as anyone can, anyway) for years. Ah well. Swallow the pride...

21:27 / 25.03.02

I had a similar experience with a tv production teacher who had no idea what some of the meters and stuff did.
She actually taught people that digital VU meters are more accurate than the kind with needles on 'em (spend *any* time doing audio work, and you know this isn't true - digitals lag, needles follow the signal instantaneously).
I checked the facts with another teacher in the same department, then made sure the rest of the class knew what was in fact the case when the teacher left the room during class once. It was during an exam review, so I just said something like, "You know, if you want to pass the test, you should answer this way, but just so you all know, I'm pretty sure it's actually this way."
That teacher lasted one (1) semester.

In that case, I felt more than justified because this class led directly to practical stuff and these classmates might wind up doing tech work on my projects (and me on theirs) so I wanted them to know how the machines worked.

Ask the professor in class, or, if you feel slightly confrontational, bring a source in with you and say, "You know, I was reading this history of zen and it says it came from China...".
Of course, if you've moved on and you're studying, like, colonial Africa or something, this will really seem weird and counterproductive.
Best to swallow pride. Even if it's in the ol' bumbling chessmaster mode. (there's another name for the ploy, but you know what I mean.)

How big is the class?
How sure are you of your facts?
Is there anyone else in the department you know well enough to mention your concerns to?

pointless and uncalled for

21:34 / 25.03.02

OK, there is a rather important issue to take into consideration when correcting a tutor, especially if the correction is done in front of a class or during a lecture.

That is the matter of the exam or test to which it pertains.

If you do correct then ensure that you and all others are made aware of what the examining board/group considers to be the case.

There's no point in loosing mark in an exam on the principal that they are wrong. It would then be an innaccurate reflection of your capacity on that subject.

Other than that, be as smug as you can, the opportunity mey not present itself in the future.

21:49 / 25.03.02

I had a medival studies professor who in her discussion of Gawain and the Green Knight, said "Now, Gawain carried a pentacle. Now, this does not mean he is a satanist. It's actually what we would call a Star of David."

Me: "Um.... actually, doesn't a Star of David have 6 points?"

Her: "Yes. And so does a pentacle."

Me: "Really even through pente is greek for five?"

Her: "Oh..."

I then went off on the difference between a pentacle and a pentagram, and the wounds of Christ and all that. And I felt like I had truly trumped one of my teachers.

Only problem was I later found a pentacle described as having six points in a couple other places, so I felt a little bad....

01:54 / 26.03.02

your teacher is wrong because the people who taught her were wrong. stop the insanity. i can understand the average joe not knowing all the facts, but one should know what they fucking teach! just goes to show that teachers are not the most qualified to teach. be a dick and bring these constant insurrections up to yor school's head of the history department. be bold.

stupidity in the classroom deserves no respect