Five days ago, a professor of mine, in a class that I am required to take, that is centered around 18th century European (read: white, male) philosophy, announced to the class that I had visited him during his office hours to let him know that I struggled to understand the course material (this was in an effort to meet with a new professor and discuss with him my feelings about his class - and people wonder why many women of color often resist asking for help).
This is a class in which I already feel insecure, due to my race, gender, and inability to relate to any of the material on a personal and political level.
How humiliating. I’ve written about insecurities in the classroom before, so I won’t reiterate. For those of you that don’t understand why this is problematic and hurtful, please do not contact me about this.
Lesson learned: the next time I visit a professor, I will ask for a verbal contract of confidentiality, even if it sounds ridiculous.
11 comments
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February 11, 2008 at 7:26 am
highpriestess
DWEMs.. Dead White European Males. ; )
I find it difficult to relate to this too.
I learned that the best way to do this it to be most objective, and look at it from a very theoretical POV. Takes the joy outta learning though. :\
February 11, 2008 at 12:33 pm
nosnowhere
what an asshole!
February 13, 2008 at 1:42 pm
Phyrecracker
Good lord that is shameful behaviour. On his part not yours of course. Have you considered this conference: http://www.woclockdown.org?
February 15, 2008 at 1:18 pm
Sara no H.
That’s pretty garish. o.O I mean, I would generally assume that most people have visited the prof in office hours and/or are struggling with the material, but to single you out like that’s pretty awful. Do y’all get to write professor and course reviews at the end of the semester? Get him back there, if you can!
February 17, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Angela
I am so sorry that this happened to you. I am an African American college teacher and sometimes I know that professors do not realize when they hurt students. In addition, I think it is a good idea if you ask the professor to keep the conversation between the two of you because you are not particularly proud of your position. And yes, some professors are certainly, bias, rude and some even racist, in which case you can not win. However, make sure you keep an open mind and treat each professor as an individual and give all of us a chance. If you close down your communication with professors it will only hurt you in the long run. Another safe avenue may be to ask other students about this professor before you talk to them, or, read rate your professor dot com. Everyone can understand the old dead white men as some call them if the professor can relate the material to everyday life and not in some abstract form. Good luck and don’t “get him back” because evaluations are to rate what you learned overall in the class from his teaching style, saying nasty things about professors on those can hurt you if you have to take that professor again or meet them in some other way. It is easy to tell what students said what based on our interactions with them. Overall, I want to stress that you keep an open mind and heart when dealing with all professor and never stop asking questions or seeking help. Take care. Angela
February 17, 2008 at 1:17 pm
-obw
Thanks everyone for your supportive comments and advice.
I think I’ve realized over time that there are really only a few professors worth writing raving rants about. Some professors, as Angela pointed out, simply don’t know when they are hurting or offending students. This is a class I cannot drop, so I’m in the process of building a strategy where I think about the text in relation to theorists I AM interesting in - bell hooks, Judith Butler, Audre Lorde, and Edward Said, for example.
As for the professor, I was hurt, and thinking about it still makes me wince a little. But then I take a deep breath and remember that next time, I just need to frame my conversation with my professor more, and hope that he is aware of his language for future students of color that enter his classroom.
February 20, 2008 at 4:07 pm
tekanji
He mentioned you by name in front of the entire class??? He’s either very, very stupid, or very, very malicious. I mean, it’s one thing to say, “Some students have mentioned to me that they’re having trouble with the material we’ve been covering…” and use that to open a dialogue to try and find out what the best way to handle the problem is. It’s quite another thing to mention a student by name in front of the whole class. Aside from embarrassing you, I don’t see what he hoped to accomplish by that.
I mean, when I went to see professors I always assumed that the contents of the conversation would be semi-confidential. I mean, that’s the whole point of seeing them in their office rather than standing around after class where the other students can hear, right?
Ugh. I’m so sorry that happened to you. And I agree wholeheartedly with nosnowhere: what an asshole!
February 21, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Pieds Des Anges (Kyla)
Sigh. Write and let me know how you are doing.
February 27, 2008 at 8:19 pm
Veronica
Terrible!!!! I’m so sorry this happened to you. Hang in there…find some supportive classmates and you’ll get thru this.
April 3, 2008 at 1:57 pm
goldengrams
Sometimes I think that this school is a terrible, terrible place…
April 19, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Bq
Sheesh. It’s one of those things that ought to be so basic and obvious to a teacher. But I commend you for seeking help from the professor - I rarely speak in class and I generally avoid speaking to the professor, which isn’t right, since I’m paying to be here and learn and all that. It’s something that’s very difficult for me to break out of.