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I dropped out after my university added various "studies" courses to the required list. I took just one such course—gender studies—which was utterly abysmal.

I dropped out after my university added various "studies" courses to the required list. I took just one such course—gender studies—which was utterly abysmal. There was zero tolerance for debating ideas or considering opposing viewpoints. You either assimilated with the group think, or you were castigated for your heresy. It was indoctrination, not education.

anonymouskimmer 10mo ago
You may have had a bad instructor. I don't think I've ever been in a class where I couldn't do some genuine questioning, but of course I didn't always feel the need to do so. Edit to add: Also, you failed to learn the lesson that you can't always quit in the face of tyranny. Did you never have a history or civics class in high school?
- WorkerBee28474 10mo ago
  But were any of your classes gender studies?
  - anonymouskimmer 10mo ago
    No. I had one that had something to do with anthropology though.
mapontosevenths 10mo ago
Which viewpoint did you oppose? It matters. If it was "Women should be allowed to vote" I can understand the teachers reluctance to engage in debate.
- csa 10mo ago
  > Which viewpoint did you oppose? It matters. > If it was "Women should be allowed to vote" I can understand the teachers reluctance to engage in debate. I was in a class like this at an elite school 3 decades ago. I was told by two other students that my role as a cis straight white male was to say nothing or validate what others said. This was during a time that the core concepts of what is currently called DEI were being fleshed out. My “sin” was asking whether certain research and data were being reported and represented accurately (they weren’t). The creative interpretations led to policy suggestions that were about 180 degrees from what the author intended. How did I know that? I knew the researcher and had discussed it with him directly. That class was an absolute circle jerk, and it’s the kind of circle jerk that gives progressives a very bad name while being completely unnecessary (i.e., many parts of the progressive agenda have plenty of solid research support without wildly creative interpretations). Anyway, the professor in this class was having none of it. He appreciated my questions. That said, half the class thought I was satan incarnate.
lapcat 10mo ago
I have a hard time believing this story. You seriously dropped out because you didn't like one class? That doesn't seem to show much fortitude. Which university, which year was this, what was your major, and what happened with your education and/or career after you dropped out? And what precisely do you mean by "castigated," in your specific case?
- stack_framer 10mo ago
  > You seriously dropped out because you didn't like one class? No. The university added other "studies" courses to my requirements that contributed to my decision. After taking gender studies, I knew I could not tolerate the other "studies" courses the university was suddenly demanding—which were not required when I first started. > Which university The University of Utah > which year was this 2014 > what was your major Computer Science > what happened with your education and/or career after you dropped out? I still have 8 classes left. Nothing happened to my career. > And what precisely do you mean by "castigated," in your specific case? One of our guest speakers was a man with autogynephilia—a man who derives sexual pleasure from dressing like a woman. In a follow-up discussion, I committed the "sins" of referring to him as a man, and saying things like he is not a woman, and there are only two sexes. My instructor and some students went scorched earth on me over these elementary facts. They made it quite clear that the only acceptable narrative was that, because he "identifies" as a woman, he is a woman. This is just one example of the kind of "thinking" that went on in this course. I don't like it when I'm told what I must think. As I said before, that's indoctrination, not education. > I have a hard time believing this story. Why? It's all true.
  - baiwl 10mo ago
    I don’t understand this thing you do in the US of forcing you to do completely unrelated courses. You want to study computers and they put you through liberal arts or gender studies bullshit that is basically worthless. Why?
    - deleted 10mo ago
      [deleted]
jpalawaga 10mo ago
I will give you an upvote to offset the negative expressions. I've heard of at least one instance at a very well known Bay Area university in such a class. From what was described to me, and I trust this person to not misrepresent their experience, was that they were essentially told 'hi, cis white male, sit down and don't say a damn thing, this isn't your place to talk'. And then go on to essentially present a curriculum that was essentially a myriad of thinly-veiled misandry, compounded by extremely clear classroom rules/culture where any opposition was decidedly unwanted by the lecturers. I'm the first to champion equal rights and equal opportunity, but that that sort of thing was going on in higher ed left a bad taste in my mouth.
- yatopifo 10mo ago
  Is it still a thing in the US though? There was a bit of that in Canada briefly but then everyone saw the ridiculousness of the radical approach in 2023. Universities have been distancing themselves from such groups since then.
fzeroracer 10mo ago
When I see posts like this, it reminds me of when I went to community college. I was working towards an associate degree to transfer to a larger university which saved both money and allowed me to bypass some of the admission issues. One of the classes I was taking was a Gen Ed class around the philosophy of religion. I was an especially strong atheist at the time, and this class involved a well-rounded discussion and examination of religions from across the world as well as debates around our religious beliefs. By the end of the class I had softened on my stance a bit (though still an atheist), and I saw multiple Christians get up, walk out of the class mid-lecture and never come back. Not all of them mind you, but a few of them took such great offense at the class even mentioning other religions that they left, and some really couldn't handle any sort of debate or discussion.

anonymouskimmer 10mo ago

You may have had a bad instructor. I don't think I've ever been in a class where I couldn't do some genuine questioning, but of course I didn't always feel the need to do so. Edit to add: Also, you failed to learn the lesson that you can't always quit in the face of tyranny. Did you never have a history or civics class in high school?

WorkerBee28474 10mo ago
But were any of your classes gender studies?
- anonymouskimmer 10mo ago
  No. I had one that had something to do with anthropology though.

mapontosevenths 10mo ago

Which viewpoint did you oppose? It matters. If it was "Women should be allowed to vote" I can understand the teachers reluctance to engage in debate.

csa 10mo ago
> Which viewpoint did you oppose? It matters. > If it was "Women should be allowed to vote" I can understand the teachers reluctance to engage in debate. I was in a class like this at an elite school 3 decades ago. I was told by two other students that my role as a cis straight white male was to say nothing or validate what others said. This was during a time that the core concepts of what is currently called DEI were being fleshed out. My “sin” was asking whether certain research and data were being reported and represented accurately (they weren’t). The creative interpretations led to policy suggestions that were about 180 degrees from what the author intended. How did I know that? I knew the researcher and had discussed it with him directly. That class was an absolute circle jerk, and it’s the kind of circle jerk that gives progressives a very bad name while being completely unnecessary (i.e., many parts of the progressive agenda have plenty of solid research support without wildly creative interpretations). Anyway, the professor in this class was having none of it. He appreciated my questions. That said, half the class thought I was satan incarnate.

lapcat 10mo ago

I have a hard time believing this story. You seriously dropped out because you didn't like one class? That doesn't seem to show much fortitude. Which university, which year was this, what was your major, and what happened with your education and/or career after you dropped out? And what precisely do you mean by "castigated," in your specific case?

stack_framer 10mo ago
> You seriously dropped out because you didn't like one class? No. The university added other "studies" courses to my requirements that contributed to my decision. After taking gender studies, I knew I could not tolerate the other "studies" courses the university was suddenly demanding—which were not required when I first started. > Which university The University of Utah > which year was this 2014 > what was your major Computer Science > what happened with your education and/or career after you dropped out? I still have 8 classes left. Nothing happened to my career. > And what precisely do you mean by "castigated," in your specific case? One of our guest speakers was a man with autogynephilia—a man who derives sexual pleasure from dressing like a woman. In a follow-up discussion, I committed the "sins" of referring to him as a man, and saying things like he is not a woman, and there are only two sexes. My instructor and some students went scorched earth on me over these elementary facts. They made it quite clear that the only acceptable narrative was that, because he "identifies" as a woman, he is a woman. This is just one example of the kind of "thinking" that went on in this course. I don't like it when I'm told what I must think. As I said before, that's indoctrination, not education. > I have a hard time believing this story. Why? It's all true.
- baiwl 10mo ago
  I don’t understand this thing you do in the US of forcing you to do completely unrelated courses. You want to study computers and they put you through liberal arts or gender studies bullshit that is basically worthless. Why?
  - deleted 10mo ago
    [deleted]

jpalawaga 10mo ago

I will give you an upvote to offset the negative expressions. I've heard of at least one instance at a very well known Bay Area university in such a class. From what was described to me, and I trust this person to not misrepresent their experience, was that they were essentially told 'hi, cis white male, sit down and don't say a damn thing, this isn't your place to talk'. And then go on to essentially present a curriculum that was essentially a myriad of thinly-veiled misandry, compounded by extremely clear classroom rules/culture where any opposition was decidedly unwanted by the lecturers. I'm the first to champion equal rights and equal opportunity, but that that sort of thing was going on in higher ed left a bad taste in my mouth.

yatopifo 10mo ago
Is it still a thing in the US though? There was a bit of that in Canada briefly but then everyone saw the ridiculousness of the radical approach in 2023. Universities have been distancing themselves from such groups since then.

fzeroracer 10mo ago

When I see posts like this, it reminds me of when I went to community college. I was working towards an associate degree to transfer to a larger university which saved both money and allowed me to bypass some of the admission issues. One of the classes I was taking was a Gen Ed class around the philosophy of religion. I was an especially strong atheist at the time, and this class involved a well-rounded discussion and examination of religions from across the world as well as debates around our religious beliefs. By the end of the class I had softened on my stance a bit (though still an atheist), and I saw multiple Christians get up, walk out of the class mid-lecture and never come back. Not all of them mind you, but a few of them took such great offense at the class even mentioning other religions that they left, and some really couldn't handle any sort of debate or discussion.