Recently, a colleague forwarded to me a copy of an exam from an introductory sociology class found lying in a room at a public college in the east. It was graded 100%. The exam deserves to be quoted at length, as parts of it are virtually indistinguishable from the old Soviet agitprop of the Fifties:
Question: How does the United States "steal" the resources of other (third world) [sic] countries?Answer: We steal through exploitation. Our multinationals are aware that indigenous people in developing nations have been coaxed off their plots and forced into slums. Because it is lucrative, our multinationals offer them extremely low wage labor (sic) that cannot be turned down.
Question: Why is the U.S. on shaky moral ground when it comes to preventing illegal immigration?
Answer: Some say that it is wrong of the United States to prevent illegal immigration because the same people we are denying entry to, (sic) we have exploited for the purpose of keeping the American wheel spinning.
Question: Why is it necessary to examine the theory of cumulative advantage when it comes to affirmative action?
Answer: Because it is unfair to discredit the many members of minority groups that have (sic) been offered more life chances through the program.
Question: What is the interactionist approach to gender?
Answer: The majority of multi-gender encounters are male-dominated. for (sic) example, while involved in conversation, the male is much more likely to interrupt. Most likely because the male believes the female's expressed thoughts are inferior to his own.
Question: Please briefly explain the matrix of domination.
Answer: the (sic) belief that domination has more than one dimension. For example, Males (sic) are dominant over females, whites over blacks, and affluent over impoverished.
This exam was part of the curriculum in a for-credit class at an accredited degree-granting institution. Introductory sociology courses like this one are frequently required, even for non-majors. A student who matriculates in this field of study will have nothing in the way of useful skills, but will be convinced that his country is rotten to the core, and that whites and males are evil.
China encourages its brightest students to study mathematics and engineering. India has become known as a hotbed of tech-savvy computer programmers. Meanwhile, the U.S. spends billions to teach postmodern, left-wing misinformation as objective "fact."
It seems rather foolish to remain optimistic about the future of this nation when millions of its most "educated" are systematically being taught to loathe it.
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A former member of the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York (SUNY), Dr. de Russy writes on educational and cultural issues. She also serves on the boards of several distinguished organizations dedicated to higher education and other institutional reform.
Comments (5)
I don't understand, what is the problem with this exam? It explores common sociological theories. Not once does it proclaim that a certain way of thinking is right or wrong; in fact, the student actually begins an answer with "some say...", which means that he or she recognizes that these are just theories, not objective fact.
The questions are asking the student to: examine, explain, describe, compare, and analyze. All of these skills are highly desirable in most career fields. Sociology as a discipline emphasizes critical thinking, not blindly following the "old Soviet agitprop of the Fifties", as you say.
I'm not sure what China and India have to do with this topic, since many universities in both countries offer comprehensive liberal arts and humanities programs, including Sociology. I encourage you to do some research on Peking University, Tsinghua University, and Nankai University in China, and the Indian Institute of Technology in India, before assuming that they have eschewed all humanities and liberal arts in favor of technology, mathematics, and engineering.
Posted by P.S. | January 7, 2010 8:44 PM
Posted on January 7, 2010 20:44
If the students answers are an example of critical thinking that the teacher gave a passing mark to I would say the teachers standards are abysmally low.
The first answer contains the unqualified assertion that providing a job in an urban setting constitutes exploitation on the part of a corporation. The alternative of staying on the farm to continue the misery of subsistence farming is not even considered or examined.
On the question of immigration the students answer rests on the shaky premise that the US exploits other countries. In what manner does trade exploit other countries? What would the economy of Mexico be (I assume)like without the US? Does the use of boilerplate language like "keeping the American wheel spinning" really indicate critical thinking to you?
Posted by wayne fontes | January 14, 2010 12:01 AM
Posted on January 14, 2010 00:01
This is ridiculous. Sociology is about exploring society and relations between individuals, groups and institutions. Words like "moral" and "steal" does not belong at all, especially not if one takes the non-scholar definition of postmoderism seriously.
Also I wouldn't let a 13 year old get away with such nonsense answers. No explanations, no definitions, no reference to sociological theory. And what's with the 'sic' everywhere?
Posted by K. Dahl | January 14, 2010 8:37 AM
Posted on January 14, 2010 08:37
This is so bad, and so blatant, that I have to wonder if it's real. No question there are a lot of professors who *think* these things and even require their students to (at least seem to) agree with them, but generally the style seems to be much more circuotous//almost encrypted.
I'm guessing that if the quiz *is* real, it's from a junior college or third-tier college.
Can you vouch for the source? Can you tell us any more about the kind of institution it came from
Posted by David Foster | January 14, 2010 10:12 AM
Posted on January 14, 2010 10:12
Sounds fishy. Before any conclusions are reached, it would be necessary to see a scan of the actual document, redacted if needed, so the institution and instructor could be identified and contacted for confirmation.
What would be the harm in providing that information?
Posted by jimspice | January 19, 2010 7:00 PM
Posted on January 19, 2010 19:00