Re: I killed a man with my syllabus, just to watch him die

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Huh. You think that "Introduction to Labor Studies" and "Body Politics" sound lame? A lot of these classes sound like fairly substantive undergrad courses to me.

But some of the courses -- I'm looking at you, "Collegiate Sexuality" at Oxy -- must be throwaway one-unit pass/fail classes taught by upper division undergraduates.


Posted by: jms | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 11:08 AM
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5. Introduction to Labor Studies at the University of Washington.

You're either for capitalists or for communists. I think we know where the University of Washington stands.


Posted by: Cryptic Ned | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 11:09 AM
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Eh, Body Politics is one I'll keep making fun of, but the labor course doesn't seem that bad. At least from the little we know from Cranky McCrazypants.


Posted by: FL | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 11:10 AM
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So, they're scared by anyone talking about society, race, sex, or Saracens.


Posted by: Cala | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 11:10 AM
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Wait, a scholar of gay and lesbian rights is named...?

Craig?? Just like the Senator?? that's hilarious!


Posted by: Michael | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 11:11 AM
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Worst scare quotes ever:

Students are graded on the "merits" of their work

Posted by: destroyer | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 11:12 AM
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The hypocritical thing is that they wouldn't be beating the indoctrination drum if the courses were "Why Christians are Perfect and Good" and "How to be a Robber Baron."

And their methodology seems to be to look at the prof's bio on the department website and look at the course title. I could have a lot of fun with this.


Posted by: Cala | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 11:18 AM
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I wonder if the Intro to Labor Studies course talks about the UW TA unionizing effort.

Body Politics is an interesting subject, Labs, you reactionary swine.


Posted by: bitchphd | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 11:23 AM
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Just when did the English Dept throw in the towel on rigor, B?


Posted by: FL | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 11:25 AM
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9: when the English Dept was created, no?

In the college I endow there will be a Department of Philology instead.


Posted by: Cryptic Ned | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 11:29 AM
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"Rigor" is just another word for punishment, Labs. I bet you'll beat your children, too. No wonder you don't want anyone to enquire into the political significance of controlling the body.


Posted by: bitchphd | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 11:32 AM
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Who knew this thread would be so arousing? I'll call Rimmerman.


Posted by: FL | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 11:33 AM
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I'll call Rimmerman.

You'll need a spotlight and a stencil-cut piece of paper to employ the Rimmersignal.


Posted by: Cryptic Ned | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 11:36 AM
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This list seems mild to me frankly. What a lazy nutjob.


Posted by: oudemia | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 11:40 AM
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Just when did the English Dept throw in the towel on rigor

Rumor has it that in locker rooms, towels have long been employed to test rigor.


Posted by: Jesus McQueen | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 11:46 AM
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Not a single course from my alma mater is listed in this article. What a letdown.


Posted by: Magpie | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 11:56 AM
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No Hampshire. No Gallatin. No Sarah Lawrence. Bo-ring.


Posted by: oudemia | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 11:59 AM
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"Students" "are" "graded" "on" "the" "merits" "of" "their" "work" "."


Posted by: Anderson | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 12:01 PM
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These are just classes that announce their ideology. I'm dangerous because I teach pornographic, Satanist, and amoral literature, read aloud some of the more titillating passages, and then sit back and pretend that I find it mildly morally distasteful. My students (almost always the super-fundamentalist ones) then defend it in passionate terms and talk about how much they loooove it.


Posted by: A White Bear | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 12:09 PM
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Not just defending my school or nothing, but how exactly is "Imperialism in American History" at all controversial, either for Labs or the crank? Maybe it's because I've a chapter on the Spanish-American War and am currently writing one on Twain, but a course on US imperialism seems downright staid to me.


Posted by: SEK | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 12:14 PM
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THE US IS GOOD AND ANY PROFESSOR WHO TRIES TO TEACH ANYTHING ELSE HATES AMERICA.

Duh, SEK.


Posted by: bitchphd | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 12:15 PM
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But, B, imperialism isn't necessarily bad. Plenty of people think it's good. Tonight, Lakota territory; tomorrow, the Philippines!


Posted by: SEK | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 12:22 PM
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The hypocritical thing is that they wouldn't be beating the indoctrination drum if the courses were "Why Christians are Perfect and Good" and "How to be a Robber Baron."

but a course on US imperialism seems downright staid to me.

A good experiment in modifiers here. "Gay Movements in the United States" = Bad. "Imperialism in the Americas" = Bad. But! "Gay Imperialism in the Americas" = Good!


Posted by: Gonerill | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 12:24 PM
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when the English Dept was created, no?"


Yeah, some Lit. cronies apparently hold "Bless Me Ultima" (and its variations) to be some profound realization of Hegelian dialectic.............


Posted by: 01011010 | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 12:33 PM
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22: Everyone knows that "Imperialism" is one of those PC lefty words rather than calling things by their proper names, like Manifest Destiny or Spreading Democracy.


Posted by: bitchphd | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 12:40 PM
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Yes, imperialism should be on the table--perhaps augmented with requisite courses in "Elliot-Abrams-ocracy"--- or Podhoretzism, etc


Posted by: 01011010 | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 12:50 PM
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Intro to Finance, or wherever they teach about maximizing shareholder value, is more dangerous than Intro to Labor Studies.

Where is Emerson to tell us that Econ 101 and Analytic Philosophy 101 are the most dangerous of all?


Posted by: PerfectlyGoddamnDelightful | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 1:00 PM
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"How to be a Robber Baron?" Fuck, what does he think they teach in business school?


Posted by: Walt Someguy | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 2:31 PM
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Issues Dividing America

Assuming that this course made it on the list solely as a result of its title, I think it's a very good illustration of the authoritarian thinking behind the list. Just admitting that there are issues the country is not agreeing about? That's unspeakable?


Posted by: Witt | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 2:41 PM
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"How to be a Robber Baron?" Fuck, what does he think they teach in business school?

Hey! Don't besmirch us! Our curriculum doesn't include any of that "charity" or "philanthropy" bullshit that the robber barons seemed so obsessed with.


Posted by: Po-Mo Polymath | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 2:45 PM
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Whatever crank wrote this article cites Discover the Network as evidence for the dangerosity of the courses. As in, "this course, which might seem okay, assigns students to read the Gayatollah Abu Labs, whom Discover the Network has called a dangerous Islamogayofacist (the worst kind); therefore this is clearly an indoctrination session!"


Posted by: Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 6:10 PM
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The website's graphic cracked me up, with the Aryan woman and child looking off to the Right waiting for the one who will come and protect them from brown people, from gays, and from Swarthmore-graduate elementary school teachers. I think white dudes are supposed to stare into their eyes (from their mom's basements) and mumble, "Tremble, Loins, and shiver, Timbers, for here is the Treasure my Masculinity commands me protect with all my Will, so that these two Innocents may live free of knowledge of the World outside their Home!"


Posted by: A White Bear | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 6:19 PM
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"Tremble, Loins, and shiver, Timbers, for here is the Treasure my Masculinity commands me protect with all my Wii and this here copy of "Super Mario Galaxies"!


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 6:21 PM
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Well, shoot. Another vaguely funny comment ruined by the gremlins hanging off my fingers.


Posted by: Beefo Meaty | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 6:22 PM
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7l8mWGCeBu8

Die a bolickal sabo taygee, Sifu!


Posted by: snarkout | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 9:06 PM
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34
if you just corrected my unintended mistakes instead of making snarky remarks
this (33) wouldn't have happened
my woodoo powers, woohoohoo!!!


Posted by: read | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 9:24 PM
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I'm just thrilled my Alma Mater, Occidental College, made the list of anything "dangerous."

Back in the day - more decades ago than I'd care to recount - we referred to it as "a small Christian college, for very small Christians."


Posted by: dr ngo | Link to this comment | 12-21-07 11:02 PM
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Ogged can be relieved to know they're pro Persian. From "Not All Immigrants Are The Same".

Iranians, for the most part, have integrated exceedingly well. A "Persian" party was held at the posh Circus Club in Atherton, California, heralded as the first fundraising gala in support of PARSA, a philanthropic nonprofit with an endowment of $7 million already. The guest list included such Iranians as Farzad Nazem, a Yahoo executive; Omid Kordestani and Salar Kamangar, Google executives; Anousheh Ansari, the first female tourist and Muslim in space; Dr. Camran Nezhat, a reproductive endocrinologist, and many others. Guests came from all over the country, and what is interesting about these Iranians is their diversity of religion: Muslim (mostly secular), Jews, Zoroastrians, and Baha'is. Apparently religion means far less to them than their ancient history as Persians, with cultural accomplishments that well predated the conversion of the nation to Islam.
But some other Arab Muslim immigrants are integrating less well into our society.

Dum Dum DUM!

http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/challenges.php?id=1385944


Posted by: gswift | Link to this comment | 12-22-07 6:59 PM
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(Sings) Oh, Rimmerman, where ya gonna run to?


Posted by: Helen | Link to this comment | 12-22-07 7:02 PM
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