[Christien]

I spent 7 years between 2 universities (3 if you count summer courses) doing my undergrad and masters, including classes in philosophy, media, film, sociology, etc. and with the exception of one clear wingnut, I can't say I ever came across a prof that, politically at least, tried to sway students one way or the other. In philosophy we were frequently asked to argue the opposite of our personal beliefs to better understand the issues. I found myself frequently with more (socially) liberal attitudes than most profs, anyway, and that was the norm amongst students. Most of the profs were older and more conservative than most of the students.

The exception was one guy who tought a sociology summer course I took. He was interesting, I'll give him that! He'd rant up and down about how society would be so much better if we all just paid our taxes! Man, I chuckle about it just remembering him! We all thought he was a bit loony. He definitely tried to sway the class in his way, very overtly, but because it was a summer course it was full of tons of different people than the majority of the student body - lots of older people there for fun, mature students, kids making up failed credits from the preceding school year (ahem...) and we all challenged his views as much as he challenged ours.

I couldn't agree more that college/university isn't the real world. Bright kids need a place they can spend a few years really exercising their brains, and that includes political activism, speaking out, etc.

I would say college isn't so much about challenging other people's ideas as it is about having your own ideas and beliefs challenged. If they can't stand up to being challenged without falling back on dogma (or worse, scripture), then I'd say they're not very firm.