Today I had my second Labour Migration class and it was a giant exercise in frustration and anger. It was even more disorganized than the first class and the professor (who I can confirm does not have her PhD) continues to seem allergic to using scholarly sources in the discussions. Sure, she will mention certain names after someone makes a comment about something, but there is no discussion or critique of theories. Instead, the class is basically just one anecdote after another. But that's not what really bothered me today. There were three other things about today's class that really angered me.
First, when the professor asked the class to list events/ideologies that were affecting current immigration flows and the debate around them, one student called out in a sly, almost taunting voice "Nine-One-One." At first the class was perplexed as to what the student meant, but quickly it dawned on us all that she was referring to September 11th, 2001. Everyone started laughing - the exact response the student clearly wanted to elicit. I thought it was hugely inappropriate to joke about such a horrific event and I was stunned everyone decided to laugh at it. I felt personally offended.
Second, at some point during the conversation about globalization (I can't remember exactly how we stumbled upon this) the professor said, with all seriousness, that the only reason the United States supports Israel is because all of the U.S. banks are run by Jews and that they clearly collaborate to funnel funds to Jerusalem. I told the professor that she was spouting conspiracy theory garbage that had no place in serious conversations, at which point she then challenged me to provide alternative reasons why the U.S. supports Israel. I told her that the U.S. Jewish community definitely plays a role in lobbying the U.S. government to support Israel, but that there were myriad other reasons behind the policy. She did not seem impressed. Again, I was astonished at the unprofessional and offensive nature of the discussion.
The third thing that really pissed me off was the professor's use of religion in class. I have no problem with people practicing religion as long as they keep it to themselves. But this professor kept saying, as proof for the notion that people have been migrating since the beginning of human history, that "Adam and Eve migrated out of the Garden of Eden. True Fact." What place this has in a serious, academic discussion I do not know. Instead of quoting scholarly articles highlighting historical migration trends, this professor chooses to cite scripture. Not only is that border-line inappropriate indoctrination, but it is in no way a "true fact." Therefore it = COMPLETELY USELESS.
Thankfully I have a plan to get out of this course. Apparently the wonderful, intelligent, organized professor who teaches my Sustainable Tourism class is also teaching the course on Disaster Management in the summer. I am going to ask her on Thursday if this is confirmed and if she is 100% sure the class will be offered. If she says "Yes" I am dropping this horrible migration class and will take the summer course to finish out my classroom work at UWI. I am crossing my fingers that I will be able to execute this plan, because I do not think I can sit through another one of these asinine and offensive classes without losing my cool.
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