By Professor Doom
College employees
are particularly vulnerable to e-mail scams. Our e-mail addresses are readily
available, and regular hacks of the system mean the entire mailing list is at
the disposal of your typical e-scammer.
Our particular
weakness (at the risk of exposing it) are phishing scams sent, falsely, from
the Poo Bah. We know better than to click on links and download files, but when
it comes from the Poo Bah, there’s a problem: we can use common sense and
ignore it, but then there’s a real risk of angering the Poo Bah by not
downloading or supporting whatever he asks whenever he asks it. It’s a tough
choice, but many faculty decide to fall for the scammer rather than risk the
kind of rage documented often enough in this blog.
A few universities,
more accurately professors of certain courses at those universities, received
suspicious e-mails recently:
Duke warns professors
about emails from someone claiming to be a student, seeking information about
their courses -- many in fields criticized by some on the right. Some Michigan
and Denver faculty members have received similar emails but from different
source.
These e-mails
weren’t really all that scammy; all that was requested was the reading list or
syllabus from the courses involved. The scammy part is the request (probably)
didn’t come from a student, with a conject that someone “on the right” is doing
it. The courses are those with titles that might well be Left-oriented, or at
least titles where it’s unclear what books might be in the course:
“…on courses
called "Money, Sex and Power," "Energy and Environmental
Justice" and "Religion and Mass Incarceration." The email
messages, which did not come from a Duke email account, were very similar in
asking for a reading list so the alleged student "could get a better idea
of if the class is right for me."
Now, I get a few of these every
semester as well, from students wanting some advance idea of what will be in
the course. Most math courses give a pretty clear indication of what’s in them
from the title (eg, “Statistics”), but others are vague enough that it’s quite
fair for a student to have no idea what would be in them (eg, “Mathematical
Methods”). I think nothing of giving out my syllabus to any who might ask, or
telling them what book I’m using…I’ve no shame in what I discuss in class. The
professors for these particular courses, on the other hand, feel they have
something to fear:
“…didn't want to inadvertently help someone trying to
attack either higher education generally or certain fields of study. “
This is an
interesting thing to fear: someone might not agree with what you’re doing in
the course. Many faculty refused to respond to the syllabus request because
they didn’t think it came from a student. Why should only students know even
roughly what’s discussed in a course? In a classroom environment, students are
often (quite understandably) intimidated…is the material being discussed so
fragile that it can’t withstand exposure to an audience not afraid to question
it?
We’re in an
era where student debt is skyrocketing, tuition is perpetually rising, and our
graduates are all too often no better off in any measurable way after 4 to 6
years of study, even when they get a degree. I think it’s very fair in these
circumstances to ask some questions about what, exactly, is going on in our
classrooms.
And I also think
it’s a little suspicious that we have some professors wary of exposure of what
they’re doing in their classes.
I know, “you must
be guilty if you don’t expose all your secrets” is the cry of the oppressor
but…most campuses, most courses, already post their syllabi and reading lists online.
Why are courses called “Environmental Justice” getting special treatment in
this regard?
As is so often the
case, the comments are far more interesting to me than the actual “news item.”
A few are worthy of counter-comment:
Gender
Studies has always been a Right Wing target, so we're primed for scrutiny,
critique, and insult.
I suppose the above
is correct, but maybe the time really has come to start asking yourselves why you’re such a target? Certain
fields, not just Gender Studies, but African Studies and most especially
Education do seem to consistently be the butt of jokes and the target of
scrutiny by “the outside world.” I suspect it’s the endless scandals and
hypocrisy that are factors here, but that’s just my opinion. The fact is still
these guys never seem to look in the mirror for answers. (Allow me to
gratuitously add, many of these are the same people that think Trump only won
because America is filled with deplorables and Russia hacked the election,
whatever that accusation means.)
My courses
are in Information Sciences and Technology, so not controversial at all. My
syllabi and assignments are on publicly accessible web sites and linked to my
home page to allow not just students, but also potential students, employers,
parents and anyone interested in the course to see the specifics.
I include the
above to demonstrate mathematics is hardly alone in thinking that, yeah, we
shouldn’t be ashamed of what we teach in class. Why do certain other fields
feel this way?
Well this
is most interesting. Since when did the content of a class being openly taught
at a University become a secret? I certainly do not think people should lie
about their identity. But if say a WSJ reporter requested this information,
would the request be rejected? If so why? As a society do we not have the right
to inquire about what our sons or daughters are being taught at these ever more
expensive bastions of knowledge? Fear of someone disagreeing with you does not
seem like a rational response to a request for information.
These all seem
pretty valid questions, although I doubt a WSJ reporter would ask them…seems
more of a Breitbart thing to me. Isn’t it odd that we no longer expect
mainstream news to do investigation but instead turn to alternative news for
that sort of thing?
I agree.
MIT has spent millions of dollars putting EVERYTHING FROM EVERY COURSE online
for anyone, anywhere in the world, to use. https://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm
It’s the modern
world. It’s time our institutions of higher education focus on prestige and
integrity (MIT has both), over growth.
All the above
said, there’s still the issue of the culture of fear in higher education today,
where saying a word out of line can get you terminated instantly. While the professors’ fears above
may well indicate something shady going on in the classroom, I concede it could
simply be due to being in an environment where you must always be afraid.
And that still means we should question what
we’re doing in higher education.
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