ATTN: Modern Language Assn You are a racist, classist institution, and should no longer dictate the terms of graduate education and labor in this country. Members, you ought to be advocating for your students, NOT tearing them down. That is precisely what this institution, as it presently exists, does to students. Currently, the MLA is more bound up in fortifying elitist social circles, rather than supporting graduate students. Such negligence, particularly in this economy, is unconscionable. Students deserve advisors and educators who actually take the time to engage with their ideas. As of right now, academics are more caught up with defending the purity of their respective “schools” of thought, rather than assisting students with their learning process. All of these are signs of a broken education system, that damages student egos and disrupts student lives, under the pretenses of “educating” them and “giving them an opportunity.” These assumptions are obviously paternalistic. Graduate students are independent and creative thinkers, and should be respected as such. Furthermore, we should be trusted to devise our own curricular and exam preferences. Not all students are created alike, and so, have different relationships to learning and assessment. This is common sense. I do not understand why graduate students are bullied in the academy. We do NOT come here to suffer: we come here to LEARN, and professors: IT IS YOUR JOB TO FACILITATE STUDENT LEARNING. If you cannot, do not pretend to teach. I am also a teacher, and am very well aware of the responsibilities it entails. All of this obviously has infinitely more complex ramifications for minority students. As a graduate student and doctoral candidate in English Lit., I formally impeach you. Signed, #rDNs888, Doctoral Candidate, English Literature, University of Pennsylvania Get@ME #888ENDH8 #studentrights
Posted on: Fri, 18 Apr 2014 00:50:26 +0000
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