UNC students and faculty have been living in a heightened political climate lately due to the election in November, spurring debate about how politics should — or should not — be discussed in the classroom.
“Politics can make its way into lots of different classes,” said Jonathan Abramowitz, professor and associate chairperson of the department of psychology and neuroscience.
Abramowitz teaches abnormal psychology. When he covers narcissistic personality disorder, he said a student will invariably ask if Donald Trump has it.
“From what we know about him, he does seem to have that," he said. "Psychologists aren’t supposed to diagnose people that they don’t know, but he certainly seems to have those traits. By the way, look at a lot of the politicians, a lot of them could fit into this category as well.”
Abramowitz said he likes discussion to be broad, steering away from one-sidedness.
“I try to be open and fair, and although I might discuss what my biases are, I think it’s important for professors to be up front about that, so that students at least have a context,” he said. “I wouldn’t rip on a candidate or certain political view or something like that in class without bringing up that the other side has faults too.”
Elijah Laskody, a senior, said he hasn’t had any classes this semester that discuss politics, but he had a guest lecturer last semester who purposely avoided the topic all together.
“Personally, I think that since we are on a campus where there should be free expression in the classroom, I don’t mind if professors say things without qualifying themselves. They do need to be considerate of students, perhaps after class talking to them or letting students work with them, but not letting that interfere with the education process too much,” Laskody said.
Frank Baumgartner, a professor of political science, said he makes it clear from the beginning they will be discussing issues that parties disagree on — the point of studying it is not to say which party is right or wrong, but rather to understand what’s going on.
