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How to tolerate a Marxist teacher?
| Honestly, the way she presents the topics might sound interesting from a sociological or anthropological perspective, but she's so incredibly boring that I literally have a headache right now from listening to how insipid her lecture has been. Maybe if she were teaching in the appropriate course I'd be able to handle this a bit. It's not even funny how irritated I'm feeling right now. What do I do about this.
| You sure you're in the right class, op? Ethnogeography/anthropogeography is a thing.
First day might be an overview of what she's gonna teach the whole semester so if it's not what you're looking for you should probably switch class.
| Yeah teachers will add their own flavor first lecture but they're usually is a curriculum that they have to hit you unless you are in one of the classes >>e1754c posted
| Learning about different ideologies is valuable. That's the only response I can give.
| You don't have to agree with every idea a teacher presents you, college is a place where you define who you are, not what someone else wants you to be. If you disagree, respectfully ask questions
| If you want to learn cartography take a cartography class. Geography as a whole is pretty interpretive and more about looking at other fields from a perspective of space, scale and so on. If you're committed to geography as a whole but just want different politics, you might be able to shop around because all geographers are either communists or CIA recruiters
| To expand on that, at least as far as I saw when I studied it geography is very graduate-focused. Undergraduate is very mushy and meant to expose you to lots of ideas and skills shallowly and then you get a masters and specialize. So if you're not majoring in it and just want applicable mapping skills, i'd recommend taking those specific classes, since thanks to computers the technical aspects aren't hard enough to demand the whole program's focus anymore
| >>892917 >>892927 It was intro to geography, so I guess the teacher was able to decide what kind of introduction to give, but the course outline on the college site was different from the one she presented. Maybe they switched teachers midway, idk, she was kinda young, very millenial, a bit condescending to the zoomers in class even, which irks me even more.
| >>892943 The problem isn't the ideology itself, it's that I went in expecting something I'm really excited about to something else almost entirely. It's like eating chocolate chip cookies but it's actually raisin bran.
>>892965 Yes, you're right, the teacher also said disagreements are welcome, but also passive-aggressively said she doesn't expect 'kindness and humility' from the class. But it's not even that I disagree with her views, I just wish I knew what I was getting into.
| >>9f5a7b There isn't a specific class, though you can take a one year minor for that, which I was interested in but now I'm a bit hesitant with whether they'll be teaching practical stuff or it's going to be social justice stuff all the way. I'll certainly have to look around now.
| >>892995
It is said that the only pain we ever truly feel is pain that we don't see coming, and I can understand the frustration that comes from it. That being said, you have a raisin cookie, whether you like it or not.
You can't change the cookie, but following the analogy, why not drizzle some chocolate on top? On your next paper, use topography, cartography, and GIS equipment to support for or against her ideals. It's not as ideal, but you can be the spark of change.
| Huh. Sounds like something's might be up with the teacher.
I would still suggest switching class or at least get to a class with a different instructor. If you can't do that, you can probably just, try not to listen too much to the lectures. Use the energy to study on your own.
In some of my classes back in college, I think I learned more from books than attending lectures.
| >>892997
For example,a facisnating paper that is just waiting to be written could be Chinenese corporation involvement in Serbian land. While visiting, I noticed a lot of Chinese build highways, influencing how Serbians culturally treat and shape their land, furthering the goals of a second silk road. Wrap it all up with a little digital and cultural conclusions, and your professor will probably be floored with such an interesting paper.
| >>2f14cd Course switching is over, but course drop is still available lol. I'm very tempted to do so but I also want those credits. I wish it was an auditorium so I can ignore the lectures easier, but alas I'll do what I can.
| >>e0a23f That's actually a very interesting topic. A similar thing is happening in my home country too, but I've not thought much about the experience other nations are having. I might actually pursue this. Although I will say, it's kind of, what's the word, counterproductive?, to introduce elements I expect to be taught about into my research.
| And because I'm still pissed I'm going to complain about one more thing. Looking through the course timetable, I saw a required reading on 'Why Katrina was not a Natural Disaster', which reminded me of how during class, she kept bringing up the flooding in Pakistan, how this is a result of human failure to combat climate change (which I can agree), stopped after two minutes because she was getting 'emotional', then proceeded to repeat this three more times in intervals. Like, stop.
| Alright, I'm done venting.
| >>893001
I would say Argument from incredulity more than counterproductivity. You made a very sound logical assumption, but it was wrong. As a coder, I can very much sympathize with that, as those types of assumptions can stop my progress for up to a month.
Humans aren't data on a screen, they are by nature fundamentally nuanced with emotions and feelings. The teacher engages with the student, and through intellectual disagreement using both emotions and data, progress is made.
| >>893002
It's definitely annoying when a professor stumbles on a lecture, but she's human as well. Perhaps someone she knew perished in the Pakistani flooding, even a relative. I don't know her or you, but something made her choose her path, as you choose yours.
Not to say it's easy to be the emotional adult in the room and further learning, it actually sucks and requires way more work, but imo going to college is all about learning to take charge and be indipendent
| >>893005
https://youtu.be/J6ZqZQfFfdQ
My intro to humanities teacher sent me this video and it changed my whole perspective, might interest you to watch it
| >>893005 Because of the initial impression she set, my biases had me thinking this was simply an attempt to evoke an emotional reaction from the class and manipulate them, but I can see where you're coming from and now I feel a bit of regret being so critical in that moment.
| >>893004 I don't see how it was an argument of incredulity. I didn't deny trying to incorporate more general geographical tools in my studies by myself would diminish anything, just that the pace I would be essentially self-learning at be a lot slower than if I were properly taught about it.
| >>893007 No judgement, as it's tough to examine your biases. I'm autistic and I used to have a really tough time trying to understand why people would act like they do, and at least for me it helps to consider what the person would gain by doing something negative. Most people don't actively wake up and hope they can ruin someone's day, likewise your teacher probably didn't wake up and think "time to ruin this guy's geography class!".
| >>893010 But you're operating under the assumption that you're specific geographical tools are more imperative to learning geography than hers.
Checking Webster, geography is the science that deals with how living and nonliving things affect each other. Cartography is certainly important and can affect cultures, but the China's Great Firewall affect how living and nonliving things affect each other just as much. Your teacher doesn't expect you to be kind or humble,but why not try?
| Kill them
| If you want cartography I guess you should go somewhere that does cartography. What she's talking about is, well, geography.
The earth and how humans interact with it and how resources are used and the effects and politics of it and all that stuff is literally what geography is about.
So, sorry OP, but she just doing her job and doing it correctly from what it sounds like.
You also sound like you got some weird ass biases. Might wanna look at yourself a bit.
| >>8157d1 i would say that it is the failure of the teacher of not being able to setup what the general understanding of geography is and then subdividing into all the other types
| >>893223
I think it would be a fair assumption from the teachers side to assume the college students that signed up for geography know the definition of geography, idk. How humans interact with and affect their environment is literally the definition of geography. Topography and cartography are the things that are subdivisions of it.
Maybe that's different where OP is from? Idk. If so, then fair. But it just sounds like OP is upset that the geography teacher is teaching geography.
| >>dd60eb
Get used to it. Most classes in the 100 and 200 level are professors preaching their ideology within the framework of what they're supposed to be teaching; and unless you're in a technical school or something, it's going to be far left more than likely. Anons are right that these topics do fall under geography, though.
| >>8157d1 nah most geography is literally boring stuff about climate continents and less about people if we're talking secondary or highschool
| >>893011 >>8157d1 Ok, so geography is a very different subject for you guys then. My impression of what geography was from what I remember being taught about it was more like>>893278. The idea of 'human geography' was foreign to me. The teacher even made it a point that for the course, she hopes to get the class to look at it through a humanist lens.
I'm not too ecstatic about the study of the human place on Earth, but I'm going to seriously try out a few more classes.
| honestly the teacher sounds based
| I've had a few professors like this and I ended up learning more from them than I did from more traditional humanities classes. Take it as trying something new!
| >>893278 >>893281
Guess it's different in different places then. I mean, I honestly barely remember my school days, but I remember learning about that kinda stuff and what a rock is is, like, a very tiny part of what geography as a, like, study is.
But, yeah. Guess it's just different there. My bad then.
| Why is this in new all of a sudden lol
| Maids probably saw the word "Marxist" ane deemed it too political
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| Today's my first class of geography. I expected stuff like topography, cartography, how to use GIS equipment. Instead I got a philosophy lecture on what a 'place' is, how ethnic communities enrich and corporations exploit the area, the feminist approach to geography, and digital spaces. Digital fucking spaces in a geography class. All in one day. And to reinforce the fact she's a walking meme, she uses avocadoes as an analogy for something I forgot because she likes avocado toast.