Bubble rap
Multi culturalism, gender issues need not be mandated in every class
J.J. HARDER is a seniar
political science and
broadcasting major and a
Daily Nebraskan colum
nist.
It’s that time of year again folks.
We’re talking about thousands of bub
ble sheets, No. 2 pencils and a guy
named Merle with a stack of papers
visiting each of our classes. That’s
right - it’s instructor evaluation time.
OK, so we get out of class early.
We get a chance to tell our professors
what we really think about their class
es. And since most evaluations affect
grate multicultural and ethnic issues
into course material?
And...
Did the instructor integrate gender
issues into the course material?
What in the world are these kind
of questions doing on an evaluation
form? Treating students fairly and
without bias is one thing, but manda
tory integration of minority issues is
completely different.
Think about it for a moment, if
Professor Doe fails to talk about the
minority perspective in your Whatever
101 class, he or she can be downgrad
ed, and in effect, lose pay because of
it.
Section 5.3 of the Board of
Regents bylaws states:
“Each college or school shall pro
vide a mechanism by
which stu
/
dents will have an opportunity to
report their perceptions of courses and
the methods by which they are
taught.”
I don’t see where the Board of
Regents are telling the colleges to
stress multiculturalism and feminism.
I understand learning about other
cultures and the female gender can be
helpful in many classes. African
Americans had an entirely different
take on the slave trade and Civil War,
and if we didn’t hear about their strug
gle, America could still be as racist
today as it was 200 years ago. And in
almost every political science class
I’ve had, it’s been good to take a look
at most issues from a woman’s van
tage point.
But what about the classes that
don’t necessitate this diversity? Is
there really an Asian-American out
look on math? Or do we need to see
how Latinos have dealt with
«*» chemistry in the 20th
*** ^ century?
u
Teachers should be applauded for integrating
these issues into classes, but not just for the
standard race and gender differences
Seriously, is there some kind of female
perspective in physics?
Multicultural and gender issues
are fine. Great. Tremendous. I hope
that in every class where those per
spectives can be helpful to a well
rounded education, the teachers try to
bring in different viewpoints and out
looks. But they shouldn’t be punished
if they don’t.
And what about the trend that
these questions set? If we’re going to
make die instructors integrate a few
types of minorities’ issues, then why
not make them integrate issues for all
types of minorities?
If we need the multicultural per
spective, then we no doubt need the
gender issues, then I’m sure we need
to learn about blind and deaf issues.
There are endless types of minori
ties out there, and we can learn from
all of them. Teachers should be
applauded for integrating these issues
into classes, but not just for the stan
dard race and gender differences.
Diversity does not just mean learn
ing about racial minorities and
women. It means encouraging the dif
ferent experiences and backgrounds of
every type of person.
Personally, I want the issues of
people unlike myself, integrated into
the classroom. Just not in a required,
narrowly focused manner like these
evaluations.
uouuciui pay increases anu uecieases, j
we’re actually taking part in a practice j
that influences university finances. j
For the most part, these evalua- ^
tions are not only legitimate, but even . p,
helpful. They make sure the profes- . *edse
sor did not discriminate against us, . eyaj ’ . f/j(
and that we were treated with . s
^|#(
and that we were treated with
respect. They insure organized
courses and understandable sub
itter
foil,
/
ject matter.
We pay for our education,
and once a semester have the
ability to say where at least a
small portion of our money
goes. What a great feeling to ’
put our measly sheets in that /
manila envelope. Ah, the
satisfaction.
But before I ever take
that piece of paper to the
head of the class, I have
to again endure the
wrath of forced diversi- j
ty. It comes in the form '
of two questions on ^
every standard UNL I
Official Course and t
Instructor /
Evaluation. They I
are usually worded /
something to the I
effect of: /
Did the /
instructor inte- /
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l^o.
/
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/
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C/h;,, ***^"%* physically handicapped perspec
°UHSl? er*<fVnn'»s tive. If we need to
---
If we mandate this type of integra
tion, who knows what our evaluations
may look like in the future.
I’ve included my own example to
give you a little sneak peak.
/
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