possible problem with a professor... need advice
 

The problems here are numerous:

1) Philosophy professors are all douches
2) Philosophy professors get off on their feelings of superiority, thus the rigorous marking
3) Philosophy is an artsy-fartsy subjective course. There's no right or wrong. http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...ilies/wink.gif

Go talk to the department head/dean. In my experience they're happy to hear from students -- it's their job.

Kill him.

Spec.

If you haven't already, gather your grades/tests/papers together and make your case to the professor why you should receive a higher final grade. Talk about things like effort shown in preparation for your 10 minutes a week, and your punctuality to the appointments. Be respectful, as you are trying to persuade somebody to see it your way.

If he insists on the grade, ask him what you could have done to improve that grade. What he tells you is important, so write it down.

If it is a problem to you, and apparently you don't mind burning bridges, you can escalate the situation. But that bridge will be a burning heap from that point on.

Dan, you're a girlyman. Escalate, escalate, escalate!

Originally posted by Provost Harrison
Dan, you're a girlyman. Escalate, escalate, escalate! Believe it or not, I think lots of profs will raise grades based on a good presentation on the merits. That would be the best outcome, and would require the least amount of effort on Sava's part. This prof might get his rocks off on students begging for a grade, in which case Sava should do at least a little bit of begging.

Well, give him the benefit of the doubt and let him humbly grovel for his mistakes. If he does not accede...take him to town!!!

He wants you. All philosophy teachers are teh soy.

Thanks for the replies and advice so far.

Right now I've emailed him again essentially being humble and awaiting his decision.

It seems as if the best course of action is to wait to see what happens, then go to the humanities department head.

Asher: I love philosophy, but I hate philosophy teachers like this. He is exactly as you described. He's elitist scum. Philosophy is a wonderful subject that stimulates the intellect... but you are right... it's subjective. It should not be graded this way.

DanS: I'm not about burning bridges. I am a very diplomatic person. Don't let my ramblings on teh interwebs fool you. http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...ilies/wink.gif


Whoha: Unfortunately, I needed this class and there were no other alternatives. http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...lies/frown.gif



Ogie: I think he does want me. He looks like he eats a lot of soy. Plus, I'm HAWT!

A Catholic university. Impressiveeeee....

I think there are laws against that now. Didn't they ban horse slaughter?

The chick on the right looks like she gives good head. http://www.discussworldissues.com/im...ons/icon14.gif

Too bad there aren't a lot of young girls who don't have teeth. I'm not into grannies. Perhaps I could try and find a boxer chick. Hmmm... that's a good idea actually. http://www.discussworldissues.com/im...ons/icon14.gif

Or better yet, a hockey player chick. http://www.discussworldissues.com/im...ons/icon14.gif http://www.discussworldissues.com/im...ons/icon14.gif

You are a genius Sloww.




BTW, no word yet from my teacher. I emailed him a while ago, but it's not likely I'll hear from him again until next Tuesday since it doesn't seem like he checks his email that often. http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...s/rolleyes.gif

Was she British?

Originally posted by SlowwHand
I drank a lot. http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...milies/eek.gif http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...milies/eek.gif http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...milies/eek.gif http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...milies/eek.gif http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...milies/eek.gif

Originally posted by Asher
The problems here are numerous:

1) Philosophy professors are all douches Not true. The head of my college's philosophy dept. is an incredibly mellow Mahayana Buddhist who, incidentally, looks a lot like late actor James Coburn. He walks around wearing a leather headband, talking in a very soft voice, and telling wacky stories. He's very flaky, certainly, but I can't see how you could call him a douche. Mr. Rogers was a douche compared to him.

Also, the prof I had for Ethics (looks like Bob Sagett, oddly enough...there might be a rule that you have to look like a lesser-known actor to teach) had a very annoying laugh but was quite nice.

2) Philosophy professors get off on their feelings of superiority, thus the rigorous marking Debateable, and this is a generalization. It's a very aristocratic subject, and the complexity of the material varies greatly. Frankly, anyone who can understand WTF Hegel was talking about has a right to be snooty. Aristotle, on the other hand, just took waaaay too many words to express simple concepts, thereby making them sound incredibly rigorous.

3) Philosophy is an artsy-fartsy subjective course. There's no right or wrong. http://www.discussworldissues.com/fo...ilies/wink.gif

Go talk to the department head/dean. In my experience they're happy to hear from students -- it's their job. There's no right or wrong in terms of conclusions--provided you can back them up from the source material employed, or in the case of assertions of your own philosophy can explain it well and defend it from criticisms. A lot of people suck at both of those things. I suspect Sava's not one of those people, provided the topic isn't "Philosophy of the Republican Party" or something.

As for actual advice, aside from going to the dean I can't give any either. Without knowing the prof in question, any advice I give could very well be counterproductive. But you do have my sympathy, for what it's worth (nothing, I guess).

I take it being made a 'Professor' in the USA is easier than in the UK?

So how does it work in the USA, wiseguy?

Originally posted by Elok
But you do have my sympathy, for what it's worth (nothing, I guess). Not so. Moral support is always worth something. http://www.discussworldissues.com/im...ons/icon14.gif

Professor Mickey Mouse then.....;O)

Damn, I keep confusing between Sava and Serb. I just wasted a whole minute wondering WTF a Lewis University is doing in Russia.