I thought I was done with this last semester
I really do not like my 405 class, courtesy of the professor.
Yeah, I know, I know. I went through this last semester with Daughrity. The difference is, I always had the choice to take another Rel 301 class. 405 is required for my major. There's no getting out of this one. I'm stuck with Kreiner and she's stuck with me.
...you know, I was going to try to make this one amusing, but I think I might just lay out the facts. I'm bushed right now. ._.
She treats us like we're in sixth grade. I haven't been treated like that since...well, freshman year in my 101 class, but before that, sixth grade.
We're a class of juniors and seniors (and she went around the room and asked everybody, so I know this for a fact), but she treats us like we're not mature enough to have discussions. She goes around the room and asks people what they thought of the reading, often cutting them off or repeating exactly what they just said. There's no student-to-student discussion here, and in a class of less than thirty people, most of whom know and are friends with one another, that's just tough.
The reading for this past class was interesting, to say the least. It was all about writing memoirs (which is our next assignment) and insists that the writer shouldn't wait for permission to write what they'd like. Students, the author of the book says, do not need to wait for the teacher's permission to write about their subject of choice.
The irony of this is, we have been expressly forbidden to write about certain subjects. This list of taboo subjects includes sex, drugs, rock and roll, drunkenness, abortion, religious debates, and just about anything that might not be appropriate. Teacher's permission indeed.
She's got two reasons for forbidding these subjects: she wants to conform to Pepperdine's religious status/policy and she doesn't want to make anybody in the class uncomfortable. It's understandable. Thing is, they're flimsy reasons. While Pepperdine does have a code of conduct forbidding drinking/drugs/sex in the dorms/other less than socially appropriate acts on campus, it does not delineate what can or cannot be written in classes. A student could make an argument for Communist ideals for all Pepperdine cares.
Her second reason is understandable but still irksome. Modding two RPs, I can understand wanting to make sure everybody is comfortable. However - and this is a big however - in imposing this rule, she's taken choice away from us. We all have different levels of comfort, and as adults it's up to us to know what they are. She's set the discussion level extremely low, and...well, just by looking at my classmates I know it won't fly. Thor is in this class. So are John, Mary, Lindsey, Nicole, Doug, and Marcelle. I know and have had classes with almost everybody in this class, and I know the discussion level can be much higher than our professor has set it. It's our responsibility to know what we are and are not comfortable discussing and to bring up when we're not okay with the conversation. In setting the conversation level of the class, Kreiner has taken that choice from us and effectively set us back in sixth grade. The only differences between then and now are the level of reading comprehension is a little higher and we've all passed puberty.
...she told us she expected high reading and writing comprehension, yet she felt the need to explain what allusion was. In great detail.
We all called her out on the so-called banned subjects yesterday. Nothing changed.
I'm used to my Monday/Thursday 12-2 class being awesome. This is going to take some adjustment.
Yeah, I know, I know. I went through this last semester with Daughrity. The difference is, I always had the choice to take another Rel 301 class. 405 is required for my major. There's no getting out of this one. I'm stuck with Kreiner and she's stuck with me.
...you know, I was going to try to make this one amusing, but I think I might just lay out the facts. I'm bushed right now. ._.
She treats us like we're in sixth grade. I haven't been treated like that since...well, freshman year in my 101 class, but before that, sixth grade.
We're a class of juniors and seniors (and she went around the room and asked everybody, so I know this for a fact), but she treats us like we're not mature enough to have discussions. She goes around the room and asks people what they thought of the reading, often cutting them off or repeating exactly what they just said. There's no student-to-student discussion here, and in a class of less than thirty people, most of whom know and are friends with one another, that's just tough.
The reading for this past class was interesting, to say the least. It was all about writing memoirs (which is our next assignment) and insists that the writer shouldn't wait for permission to write what they'd like. Students, the author of the book says, do not need to wait for the teacher's permission to write about their subject of choice.
The irony of this is, we have been expressly forbidden to write about certain subjects. This list of taboo subjects includes sex, drugs, rock and roll, drunkenness, abortion, religious debates, and just about anything that might not be appropriate. Teacher's permission indeed.
She's got two reasons for forbidding these subjects: she wants to conform to Pepperdine's religious status/policy and she doesn't want to make anybody in the class uncomfortable. It's understandable. Thing is, they're flimsy reasons. While Pepperdine does have a code of conduct forbidding drinking/drugs/sex in the dorms/other less than socially appropriate acts on campus, it does not delineate what can or cannot be written in classes. A student could make an argument for Communist ideals for all Pepperdine cares.
Her second reason is understandable but still irksome. Modding two RPs, I can understand wanting to make sure everybody is comfortable. However - and this is a big however - in imposing this rule, she's taken choice away from us. We all have different levels of comfort, and as adults it's up to us to know what they are. She's set the discussion level extremely low, and...well, just by looking at my classmates I know it won't fly. Thor is in this class. So are John, Mary, Lindsey, Nicole, Doug, and Marcelle. I know and have had classes with almost everybody in this class, and I know the discussion level can be much higher than our professor has set it. It's our responsibility to know what we are and are not comfortable discussing and to bring up when we're not okay with the conversation. In setting the conversation level of the class, Kreiner has taken that choice from us and effectively set us back in sixth grade. The only differences between then and now are the level of reading comprehension is a little higher and we've all passed puberty.
...she told us she expected high reading and writing comprehension, yet she felt the need to explain what allusion was. In great detail.
We all called her out on the so-called banned subjects yesterday. Nothing changed.
I'm used to my Monday/Thursday 12-2 class being awesome. This is going to take some adjustment.