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Show page 8 lessons, Fail 2004 The Professor's Role: Teacher not Preacher BY RUBY WANG ARTWORK COURTESY OF UTAH MUSEUM OF FINE ART How do professors remain "neutral" when dealing with controversial religious topics in the classroom? What are the internal or psychological conflicts that professors face as they try to negotiate their own religious beliefs, preconceptions, and stereotypes? Religion is often a sensitive issue in the classroom that can sometimes hinder education. Whether the course is based on religious content or not, everyone brings their own values and beliefs to the class. There ________________ is no such thing as absolute objectivity. It is difficult to remain objective because there are so many influential elements such as one's genetics and upbringing, culture, ethnicity, and popular media that determine how free an individual truly is when he or she makes decisions. Hence, professors are here to not only educate but encourage students to keep an open mind and make unbiased judgments to the best of their ability. As a professor of philosophy, Mariam Thalos feels that religion does _______________ not intrude upon the process of education because the discipline of philosophy does not have set doctrines. Instead, "philosophy celebrates the question," said Thalos. "Education is to help people understand the pros and cons rather than push certain views against others." Thalos does not shy away when students bring up topics of faith and religion. In fact, Thalos sometimes plays the role of devil's advocate by bringing up a controversy because she believes that "something objectionable or perceived as an obstacle may not be clear on the compatibility of questions." In other words, her ultimate goal is to facilitate diverse views and help students become aware of the various existing opinions that "I'm surprised at how mature students are at entertaining different point-of-views. It was a relief to find that most students are religion-wise and are willing, able to, and interested in hearing about issues they disagree on/' are available to them. "Self-censorship has not been one of my strong suits," says Thalos, "I'm not inclined to do so because it really isn't necessary." It is true that one should be sensitive to how one comes across to others. Nonetheless, Thalos includes supplemental materials such as films and texts that deal with controversial issues because it helps students learn and explore concepts. Even if something is rated R or has graphic content she will assign it regardless as it is a piece of their education. Thalos believes that college students are mature enough to be exposed to different ideas and think critically regarding their own beliefs. ________________ When students feel strongly towards or opposed to an idea, Thalos pushes them to support their opinion with more articulation in order to be more self-reflective. Thalos tries to guide students so that they can get over preconceived notions and not to be ignorant to new or different information. "People stuck on preconceived notions are more ignorant. What they need more than anything else is to get over it." Thalos said. "It is about what reasons we believe and the compatibility for and against these _________________ reasons." To Thalos, learning is not about memorizing pieces of information. Education is a struggle to gain more knowledge and better one's self. "As long as students learn on their own, it's OK with me if they still walk away with their own views," said Thalos. According to Thalos, students have different orientations about raising questions of interest and some appreciate the challenge whereas others do not. "Students who are not sure of what they want are often surprised to find their views being challenged," Thalos revealed. Similar to Thalos' educating approach, Lisa Diamond, assistant professor in psychology and gender studies, tries to |