Academic Freedom Indeed!

[TheDakota671]

From the same people that brought you the fair, well researched, and intellectually stimulating programs like Socialism Clear and Present Danger.

[TolpuddleMartyr]

lol@ '...frequently demonstrates an adversarial relationship with facts...'

Consider that stolen.

[ProfMTH]

@TolpuddleMartyr "Consider that stolen."

;-) Not a problem.

[usd25674]

Wow! What a fair kangaroo court .

[amandarandom89]

I'm all for teaching the controversy. In fact, lets start by mandating a 30 minute session on the Quran in every Christian church.

[ProfMTH]

lol Excellent idea!

[Werekitty]

Ohyle... Wingnuts are SO much fun.

[1888junkteam]

excellent work!

[ProfMTH]

Thanks.

[madhatter1334]

So this is where tithing goes, political agendas. What about hostels, feeding the poor or maybe helping the sick. I thought that was what the church was supposed to do?

I enjoyed the video, however, one thing I hazy on. I fail to understand how the organization skills of the this teacher are relevant.

[ProfMTH]

"So this is where tithing goes, political agendas."

Yep. All those tax-free donations going right to politics.  It's one of the main reasons I want the tax exemption for religious organizations repealed.

"I fail to understand how the organization skills of the this teacher are relevant."

A good teacher is an organized teacher. It's not a sufficient condition for being a good teacher, but it's a necessary one.

[madhatter1334]

"A good teacher is an organized teacher. It's not a sufficient condition for being a good teacher, but it's a necessary one."

A very good point. However Coral Ridge Ministries' CLAIMS that she was fired "after" making comments about homosexuality. Was her position at the school terminated on those grounds? If this is the case then we do have to look at exactly what she said, regardless of her being a cruddy teacher.

[ProfMTH]

As I note in the video, I'm not familiar with all of the details of her case. She may well have been treated unfairly. It's not as if it never happens. However, when I looked at those student evaluations, it became clear that there was reason to believe that the facts of her non-reappointment may be quite different from the way she's portraying them. It's not as if that never happens either.

[NEWSTOGOD]

I was an administrator in higher ed for 28 years. We found faculty's definition of academic freedom was far wider than originally defined. That is, it allowed teachers freedom to speak out on political issues without recourse. It had nothing to do with what was taught in the classroom.

[ProfMTH]

Yes, faculty often seek to extend the borders of academic freedom to include just about anything and everything.

[JaMoond]

I can try to copy and paste what you want to say in their video comment section, if you want to.

[ProfMTH]

Oh, thanks, JaMoond, but I got it all out here, so I'm cool. :-)

[plato12000]

Yeah CoralRidge supports "academic freedom" and then bans profMTH ( an academic ) from commenting! :-(

[madhatter1334]

Unfortunately there are people who cry out against censorship when it is in their interests and then censor people when it is not...

[plato12000]

To madhatter1334: yes hypocrites like Coral Ridge Ministries. They're a great example.

[Tacos25n28]

Why are you going after Coral Ridge Ministries' so much? We can see they do have a big impact on the world sense they are part of the ADF and have a large church following... But is that it?

Also there are bigger people on Youtube you can go after. Like VenomfangX, Jesusfreek777, and others.

From what we can guess it seems your trying to go after bigger real world groups then the ones mainly based in youtube. Is this guess accurate at all or are we over thinking this one?

[ProfMTH]

I deal with what interests me, Tacos25n28. And I'm interested in exposing the liars and propagandists who populate the Christian right wing's landscape. I trust that's OK with the two of you. :-)

I've never been interested in VenomfangX. And Jezusfreek is only slightly more interesting.

[middlekk]

The difference is that Coral Ridge is a mega church with weekly (daily?) television shows, constant ongoing major fund-raising efforts attempting to separate the gullible from their wallets. While VFX and Jesusfreek are single Youtubers -- demented Youtubers to be sure, but in no position to do the type of REAL harm that Coral Ridge does every day.

[Tacos25n28]

Well profMTH did answer the question.. It was just different for him to go after non youtube only people when most of the youtube stuff is about other youtubers. Also wanted to find a good reason to target CRM more then the many others out there.

[brandonbdx]

Thanks for the vid. Academia is something few people really understand, but are always quick to criticize.

I'm continuing my foray into grad school at the moment, and my students are continually shocked at how it actually works. Could just be Ohio, though.

[ProfMTH]

"Thanks for the vid. Academia is something few people really understand, but are always quick to criticize."

Quite right, Brandon. Thanks, man.

[middlekk]

She was an ADJUNCT professor teaching a course on human heredity and she taught that "if you want a gay son, abuse your wife".

Hell, I was an "adjunct" professor once upon a time -- those are always short-term contracts. Hardly a tenure-track academic position.

And her teaching WAS vile. ESPECIALLY in context with the subject matter.

Good riddance to bad rubbish, as my grandmother would say.

[ProfMTH]

"She was an ADJUNCT professor...."

Adjunct *lecturer*, actually. Something else the Coral Ridge people neglected to mention.

"Hardly a tenure-track academic position."

Indeed.

[TheEdge012]

I run a staffing firm and have to fire people all of the time. It amazes me how many times people look for "any other reason" for the termination besides their own poor performance.

[ProfMTH]

Absolutely right, TheEdge. It happens quite regularly.

[dunwrkn4]

If you Google "FIRE - Student Complaint Against SJCC Professor June Sheldon" hopefully it will direct you to the students complaint.

[agnosticman77]

This is Coral ridge's strock and trade. They are dishonest to a T. they even equated homosexuality with pedophilia in a broadcast they did a little over a year ago.

[middlekk]

"Adversarial relationship with facts" ... nice.

[opinionhead444]

Good video. Where does this antagonism toward academia among Evangelical Christians and Conservatives come from? Where is the hostility toward the Christian viewpoint at? As far as I know, the fact that religion departments exist at colleges is because religion is so much a part of daily culture. Where does the viewpoint that all those professors are atheists come from?

Great video btw.

[ProfMTH]

"Where does this antagonism toward academia among Evangelical Christians and Conservatives come from?"

The answer to that is somewhat complex. It's important to note that the hostility is not universal in those circles, but it is prominent. What I find most troubling is that with the narrative of higher education qua bad and "leftist" established in the minds of so many on that side of the aisle, it's easy for folks like Coral Ridge Ministries to play to it and get people all worked up.

[ProfMTH]

In short, it's not an attempt to inform, but to enflame.

One sees much the same thing with the campaign to compel the teaching of intelligent design. Since ID's advocates cannot establish the scientific merit of their theory, they are working to characterize the process by which scientific merit is established as hostile to their view and, therefore, pointless to pursue. Government, they argue, should just give them an intellectual pass and let them into the science classroom. Vile.

[facilisdescenus]

You should direct us to your ratemyprofessors page.

How'd you get blocked?

[Ravindra9689]

"Adversarial relationship with facts" lol!

[AstoundedAtheist]

"Take as last resort", hilarious! Great detective work, ProfMTH.

[Ravindra9689]

Had a teacher like that once, i stated the following "It's too late for me...save yourselves, do not under ANY circumstances take any class he's teaching"<<Shakespeare teacher...that man needs help. -_-, wish they had straight jackets on MY campus.

[ProfMTH]

"It's too late for me...save yourselves"

LOL.

[Kaszely]

As always, excellent, concise and sound review of the case.

5 stars

[studio7manga]

Well I sure am glad I sent them all that spam, or was that on my other account, whoops!  :D

[Ramiiam]

To be fair, she has some strong reviews on that RMP site as well. Since the reviewers self-select, the site over-represents the strongest reactions to a professor, whether positive or negative. It doesn't tell us necessarily about the experience of the average student in her classes. If you compared my standard student evaluations to some of the comments on my RMP page, you would think you were reading about two different instructors.

[ProfMTH]

I said it's not a perfect instrument. Moreover, I've compared my own official evaluations to those I've gotten on the site. While they don't differ nearly as much as you've suggested yours do, there is some difference. Overall, however, there's not a dramatic difference between the ratings on the site and the official evaluations.

Also, as I said, she may well have been treated inappropriately. However, there appears to be more to this than her representatives would have us believe.

[sonic8005]

Also, on a side note: as a former student who has dismal memories of what a disorganized teacher can do to their student, and as a fairly disorganized person myself, I can safely agree with the statements that a college proffessor should be expected of something better than just getting off the track of the lesson plan.

Believe me, there's nothing worse than studying for a test, then you get the test and ask yourself "what the fuck does that word mean", or "uh oh the teacher lost your paper".

[sonic8005]

Oh my...

... this reminds me, I really need to get that microphone. I gotta start making vids like this.

I think the reason why you were blocked was because you noticed where the cognitive dissonance starts. IE you showed a clear understanding of the paper thin veil which covered up that they were basically arguing to defend somebody who apparently (and if not, then there must be a massive conspiracy against this person) had messed up, and has no right to complain.

[rationalmuscle]

Wasn't she the prof who introduced the theory that homosexuality was the result of a drunken brawl between God and Lucifer's better half, Sam the Butcher?

[ProfMTH]

I think that might have been someone on the east coast, Rational.

[rationalmuscle]

Heh... Well, mine was about as reasonable as Coral Ridge's theory. Plus, there was always something suspect about Sam the butcher. ; )

[outwardlycombustible]

Prof, this rate my professors site, are you by any chance on it?

Not asking for any personal info, just tell us if you've been put on there and if you're getting mostly good or bad marks.

Are you doing better than ms Sheldon at least?

[ProfMTH]

Fortunately, I've done way better, yes, Outwardlycombustible.

[DblOSmith]

"...Adversarial relationship with facts..."  So true.

[Metaleks]

You may have been blocked, but making a video to address this has had a bigger effect than if you would have just made a comment on the video. Just take a look at the video: a low rating, and the comments are priceless.

Still, I'm dying to know what she said. I get the feeling that maybe the bible was invoked. But maybe I'm wrong.

[snownet]

Coral Ridge:

Their Gods must be crazy

[mavaddat]

Ha!

[supersummersalts]

Its funny when christians use science only when it justifies there views, any other times its all wrong.

[ProfMTH]

Especially the people at Coral Ridge Ministries. Check out the stuff that D. James Kennedy wrote about evolution. Oofa!

[obmax1212]

Well, let's be fair Prof, academia tends to be heavily left leaning. There are countless stories from across the nation of people will views that do not fit the leftist mold being disenfranchised. I don't support religion in any way, particularly Evangelical religion, but I do recognize that a healthy academic environment is one rife with differences of opinion that are free from restriction.

[ProfMTH]

"...academia tends to be heavily left leaning."

Nonsense.

"There are countless stories from across the nation of people will views that do not fit the leftist mold being disenfranchised."

Most of them are bullshit.

"...I do recognize that a healthy academic environment is one rife with differences of opinion...."

As do I. Couldn't agree more.

[MrFacet]

"academia tends to be heavily left leaning."

Rarely are such accusations backed with statistics. Cherrypicked examples, sometimes.

[obmax1212]

All you need to do is visit a college campus.

[ProfMTH]

I'm on one almost every day, Obmax.

[MrFacet]

obmax: "All you need to do is visit a college campus." (to see academia are heavily left leaning)

What I actually meant was not looking around filled with prejudice, and count every instance that arises your anger, but to design a proper way to measure it.

Such ways have surprised others complaining about 'the left media' etc.

[firstcor1313]

Were there any good comments about her?

[firstcor1313]

Nevermind, I clicked on the link AND:

"Hey, I don't know what all you guy are talking about because Prof. Sheldon is one of the best instructor in SJCC. She is very kind, helpful, and cares about student's academic achievement. I've asked a lot of dumb questions, and she never lost patience. She was helpful in explaining all the question that I asked. I recommend her to anyone."

[Ender1zero1]

Even the few favorable comments mentioned that she was disorganized. I don't know how things are now but when I attended school there was no excuse for a student being disorganized so a Prof who is routinely disorganized....not acceptable from a paid employee IMO.

[ProfMTH]

"Even the few favorable comments mentioned that she was disorganized."

True.

[goldengun85]

"Even the 'FEW' favorable comments" - ???? The comments were 6 good and 6 poor on a website that is often only used when a student is upset about their grade. Are you saying that your page has no negative feedback on it? I would actually like to see your page on "ratemyprofessors" and see what the ratio is for you. I don't know this lady nor do I care about her case but using this site to make a point is like me using Wikipedia to make a point! It's only a good starting point, not a good source.

[ProfMTH]

"Are you saying that your page has no negative feedback on it?"

No. What could possibly have given you that idea? Nothing I said, because the only thing I said about my ratings was that they were better -- much better, in fact.

"...using this site to make a point is like me using Wikipedia to make a point!"

You don't know what you're talking about. As I noted in the video, the site is not a perfect instrument, but it often reflects the official student evaluations quite accurately.

[ProfMTH]

"Were there any good comments about her?"

Yep.

[AikoIsMetal]

Excellent work as usual, Professor. Fight the good fight!

DW

[ProfMTH]

Thanks, AikosIsMetal.