tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10721624.post4004818518790779593..comments2023-10-30T12:26:15.822+01:00Comments on Research as a Second Language: Students Against DecorumThomashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04858865501469168339noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10721624.post-65850798894783444302016-12-12T14:27:49.647+01:002016-12-12T14:27:49.647+01:00Thanks for that. (I've added a footnote.) It&#...Thanks for that. (I've added a footnote.) It's nice to see someone insisting on the dignity of the institutions.Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04858865501469168339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10721624.post-9943232376822124642016-12-12T14:01:59.034+01:002016-12-12T14:01:59.034+01:00As you could see, I was quoting the Dean from the ...As you could see, I was quoting the Dean from the link provided by you: http://reason.com/blog/2016/12/09/leftist-students-shouted-fck-you-bitch-a<br /><br />But the Dean's characterization of the event/incident is, in fact, more damaging to the students (than I assumed), when read in full: http://www.reedquest.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Quest-Final-USE-THIS-120216.pdf [see page 2]Presskornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03480116067878605339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10721624.post-29076326150323343062016-12-12T12:51:54.407+01:002016-12-12T12:51:54.407+01:00By fortuitous accident, Andrew Gelman just posted ...By fortuitous accident, <a href="http://andrewgelman.com/2016/12/11/valued-american-psychological-association/" rel="nofollow">Andrew Gelman</a> just posted this: "<i>Psychology is not just a club of academics, and 'psychological science' is not just the name of their treehouse.</i> It’s supposed to be for all of us—I’m speaking as a taxpayer and citizen here—and I think the scholars who represent the field of psychology have a duty to write clearly, to avoid false statements where possible, and to put themselves into a frame of mind where they can learn from their mistakes."<br /><br />I think the reason we see this sort of defiance of convention is that too many classrooms and conference sessions are, in fact, used by the teacher or presenter as ideological platforms. Sometimes you really do feel like taking <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq8CtJSQFL4" rel="nofollow">a flamethrower to the place</a>. <br /><br />Asking a (rhetorical) question in a way that also suggests your own (polemical) answer is an art that I'm not at all opposed to. What I don't respect is the presumption that it should be a show stopper. My favorite academic confrontation is one where the rhetorical question is dead-panned and then answered straight. It's where both sides respect the conventions imposed by decorum and something meaningful happens.Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04858865501469168339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10721624.post-57592087562621135202016-12-12T12:37:58.216+01:002016-12-12T12:37:58.216+01:00All right, decorum is not merely a decorative elem...All right, decorum is not merely a decorative element for a uninversity. It is important. <br /><br />Yet note how - apart from the poster-thing - the Dean of Faculty's description of the incident could also serve as a (no doubt ironic but still) apt characterization of what goes on at an academic conference with NO students:<br /><br />"The actions that I saw were not animated by the spirit of inquiry or the desire to learn that usually animates Reed audiences. The students had already decided what they thought, and came to the Question-and-Answer session to make their judgments known, not to listen and engage. Some brought posters bearing judgments and accusations. Others asked questions, that, while grammatically questions (that is, they ended with question marks), were not animated by a genuine desire to explore a question, but rather sought to indict the speaker. It felt like a courtroom, not a college."<br /><br />I'll leave it an open question whether that excuses the Reed students or merely broadens the diagnosis of academic pathologies. Or both.Presskornhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03480116067878605339noreply@blogger.com