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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Postmodern professor sues students for giving her bad evaluations |
| 2008-04-30 |
| Roger Kimball, Pajamas Media Yes, really: Priya Venkatesan, who taught writing this year at Dartmouth College, sent around several emails to former students threatening to sue them under Title VII, the 'anti-discrimination' portion of the 1964 Civil Rights act. 'Dartlog,' the weblog of the invaluable Dartmouth Review, published the text of her email, which is a classic in the annals of politically correct fatuousness. Date: Sat, 26 Apr 2008 20:56:35 -0400 (EDT) From: Priya.Venkatesan@Dartmouth.EDU To: 'WRIT.005.17.18-WI08':;, Priya.Venkatesan@Dartmouth.EDU It is not clear exactly what sort of 'harassment' poor Priya Venkatesan Ph.D. (as she generally signed herself) was subject to. I don't imagine that student evaluations such as this did much to help matters: Aside from the fact that I learnt nothing of value in this class besides the repeated use of the word 'postmodernism' in all contexts (whether appropriate or not) and the fact that Professor Venkatesan is the most confusing/nonsensical lecturer ever, the main problem with this class is the personal attacks launched in class. Almost every member of the class was personally attacked in some form in the class by either intimidation or ignoring your questions/comments/concerns. If you decide to take this class, prepare to NOT be allowed to express your own opinions in class because you have 'yet to obtain your Ph.D/masters/bachelors degree'. We were forced to write an in-class essay on 'respect' (and how we lacked it) because we expressed our views on controversial topics and some did not agree with the views of 'established scholars' who have their degrees. If you wonder what Dr. Venkatesan's 'scholarly' work is like, Dartlog conveniently links to a sample. Here's an excerpt: In many ways, social constructivism has been reframed as postmodernism, since both movements question the scientific realm's theory of truth -- that is, that scientific facts mirror an external reality which does indeed exist. However, this reframing is unnecessary, since clear distinctions exist between social constructivism and postmodernism. I used to think higher education could be reformed -- you know, a few tweaks here and there, hire some good teachers, insist on a back-to-basics program and, presto, American higher education would once again be an ally instead of an enemy of civilization. The story of Priya Venkatesan reminds me of how utopian that belief was. . . . The lawsuit should get blown out on what we call a Civil Rule 12(b)(6) motion (dismissal for failure to state a legitimate claim) and the defendants should be able to recover attorney fees under Civil Rule 11. Doesn't mean they will, but they should. |
| Posted by:Mike |
| #4 In many ways, social constructivism has been reframed as postmodernism, since both movements question the scientific realm's theory of truth -- that is, that scientific facts mirror an external reality which does indeed exist. Oh yeah - I want to pay $160 thousand so my kid can learn about this. |
| Posted by: DMFD 2008-04-30 22:24 |
| #3 This is a comment from that blog, but for some reason, I find it hysterically funny: I hope her suit succeeds. It is blatantly unfair to discriminate against stupids with PhDs. It makes life so much harder for ordinary stupids. |
| Posted by: anonymous2u 2008-04-30 10:55 |
| #2 She is suing because they disrupted the indoctrination class and had independent thought. Therefore, the students must be bigoted and sued to bring their thoughts in line with the correct type of thought. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2008-04-30 10:41 |
| #1 Geez, I wonder why she got bad evaluations... |
| Posted by: tu3031 2008-04-30 10:30 |