Yesterday I got stopped by a cat in front of the student union, who asked me, "Yo, how come the people around here look like they've been brainwashed?" My response: "I don't know. Last week was spring break, so they don't really want to be here this week." He thanked me and walked away. A few minutes later I realized that I failed to read his query correctly. Essentially, I think, he wanted to comment on the university as a propaganda machine, a space where students get force-fed information that maintains the status quo rather than a place where they are provided the opportunity to really think and challenge common assumptions. I wish that I had grasped his point and then talked to him about it....
It took grad school for me to really start challenging things. Then again, I wasn't too overly jazzed about my undergrad experience here, so that likely had something to do with it too. There were a couple professors that rocked my world, but they were in the minority, unfortunately.
Posted by: Victoria Neau at March 23, 2007 07:53 AM