Apparently, Amy Young thinks that it is her "job" to teach liberalism.  How that fits with Anthropology is beyond me.  At any rate, her comment that students should be "critical thinkers" and question all authority is a lame justification for imposing personal views upon students.  Are 18-year olds really critical thinkers?  All of us know that students are greatly influenced by their teachers.  A teacher should elicit all views for open discussion and critical analysis, but should not use the classroom to impose his/her personal beliefs upon the students.  Amy Young never denies doing this, but tries to justify it by claiming that teenagers should be able to see through her demogogary.

The truth hurts, doesn't it Andrea?  I know you are perfect, but I'll bet even you occasionally misspell or make a typo.  That is... when you are working.

Sure I can take a jab.  Actually, I'm a pretty good speller too... just got lazy.

Old Timer,

I think you misunderstood the point of Amy Young's article.  It never does advocate "teaching liberalism."  It simply says that when a person arrives at college, s/he should expect to be exposed to a wide range of ideas, including many ideas with which s/he or his/her parents may disagree.  The purpose of college is not to affirm beliefs but to question them.  I agree with you that professors should NOT impose their own beliefs on students, and that professors should be just as open to challenge and debate and disagreement as anyone (indeed, perhaps MORE than most other people).  I don't see anything in Amy Young's letter that suggests otherwise. 

I've always thought that anyone who challenges my beliefs does me a favor, one way or the other: he either encourages me to strengthen my arguments by finding further evidence to support them, or he helps me realize that I am mistaken and that my previous beliefs do not merit my allegiance.  Either way, I benefit. 

I'm always reminded of Milton's statement that he did not admire a "cloistered virtue" -- in other words, he did not admire a claim to virtue unless it had been tested in the real world.  By the same token, I cannot respect an opinion unless it is willing to venture out into the marketplace of ideas and run the risk of being challenged.  Parents who send their children to college merely to have their prior beliefs affirmed are doing a disservice to their children and are misunderstanding the purpose of higher education.

USMS,

I agree with your statement that everyone's ideas should be challenged and that we should indeed teach our children to do this.  That is why I went to a liberal arts college and encouraged my children to do so, even though I classify myself as a conservative.  Being conservative does not mean I cannot and should not think critically.  Where we part company, I think, is the teachers' role in the process.  When I went to college, the teacher elicited opinions from the students and fostered discussion and critical thinking.  The teacher usually did not state his/her own opinion, much less on subjects not germane to the discussion.  I think the teacher should be the facilitator of critical thinking, not the preacher.