do no harm:


idit dobb-weinstein: "teaching is action and thinking at once. What I try to guard against most when I teach is not speaking as if my answer were conclusive, so as to avoid (to the extent possible) any kind of dogmatic appropriation. It is understandable why students might wish to imitate their teachers, but there are different modes of imitation. I try very hard to avoid the mimetic appropriation that is immediate, passive, and occludes thinking. One other reason is that if I made clear what my views were, and my views appeared as if they were final, it would preclude the possibility of first, students challenging me and second, learning from my students. The relation between the student and teacher is, to me, a dynamic relationship . . . Teaching and learning is a movement that occurs between. In other words, we are at once both agent and patient, both teacher and learner. If we are not very careful, we can do a great deal of harm. And that, too, I have learned from my teachers, Maimonides especially.

I believe my task is to provoke students to think and to engage them in genuine dialogue and questioning. To paraphrase a rabbinic saying, 'I have learned from my teachers, and I have learned from my peers, but I have learned most from my students.' And that is a continuous process of learning."

Thursday 29 April 2010

letter to law prof tom duffy


thank you for your concern

part of why i looked so ill last week was also the detrimental effect of more harassment from a young professor who shouted offensive things at me

i told him he was making me uncomfortable and yet he persisted and sent me a cruel letter telling me i have no case to ask for women to be treated equally and fairly in the classroom.

vargas knows about this and refers it to cristy passman.
she pushes everything under the rug when it comes to professors saying offensive things.

i really think we need professors with more commitment to equality.

i think you are the best teacher the law department has, but nonetheless could watch out lest your words not jive with the modern era.

for instance "cheesecake" could be interpreted as a sexist way of referring to women as objects.

i recall hearing this in your class.

don't you think in light of the lopez lawsuit, LACC could be a little more careful not to tread on this dangerously litigable ground . . .

you should have heard what lanzer has said in class.
that vargas brought in a ridiculous movie to criminal law clas complete with every imaginable racist epithet and sexist word you could think of astounded me a year ago . . .
i wrote him a letter about it.

a lot of kids i talk to hear an abundance of things across departments that sound fairly litigable

as you oppose frivolous suits, so too wouldn't you hope that LACC do some preventative work to make sure it follows this
edu code?

well---thanks for your care and concern.
in addition to the dentistry issues, i sobbed for days bc i am so ashamed to be held captive at a school where so many teachers disrespect students with verbal abuse.

the fact that a teacher would boldly say "show your tits" twice in class and then when called into question shout "tits and ass" to prove his "academic freedom" is absurdly sickening to me.

obviously, i want i higher academic level as well.

the teacher wrote to me the next day
"Finally, before you make a mountain out of a mole-hill, perhaps you need to revisit the entomology of the word "tit."  It derives from teat, meaning nipple, and can be pronounced as tit or teet.  Both men and women have them, as do the cows on the farm on which I grew up."

and
"With all due respect, you are completely out of line.  In no way can my class be described as "vulgar and antiquated."  I take offense at this gross misrepresentation.  Before you levy such a charge against me, I strongly suggest you think hard about what you are saying.  You will see that you have no case."

can you imagine an adult teacher writing this in an email to another adult???

i think this email was almost worse than the class outburst bc it was so personal and such an attempt to silence me.

by "antiquated" i mean an authoritarian tone which denigrates women and then attempts to silence them by shouting and other forms of rudeness

and funnily also
"these base-less accusations have left me with no choice but to forbid all filming and taping of my lectures, as my academic freedom is now at stake. "

freedom to say stupid things on tape, i guess?

i know you can't respond bc everybody has to protect their salary etc but i thought i'd keep you in the loop.

too bad for the students and the fact that student bloggers will publish this on the internet seems all the more reason for professors to exercise due care 

thanks for all the classes and if you have any ideas for ways we can stop the verbal abuse and the detrimental psychological effects, please let me know.

i was beset with so much anxiety spring 2009 bc of the horribly sexist and unprofessional teaching style of lewis.

and lanzer's bitterness to women was all too clear and hateful.
multiple people have told me he asks out students and one girl dropped his class for discomfort.
couldn't someone have a talk with him and explain to him that this is 2010?

here is my tedious blog.
i spoke up today at this ridiculous student government meeting where they are spending the entire meeting on a defamation attack against a woman of color.
i find it appallingly unintelligent and sad.

i am going to oregon to take an environmental policy class at portland state university.
i can't wait.
i hope the people are more enlightened and professional up there.

thnx again and could you help tell the law team to be careful and stop alienating students with bad behavior????

my experience has been poisoned, but it doesn't have to be that way for the new students next fall.

thank you for keeping the academic level high.  i really appreciate the pace.


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