Posted on 01/19/2023 1:36:08 PM PST by BenLurkin
Matthew Salesses, an author and assistant professor of writing at Columbia University's School of the Arts, allegedly created the form as a "commitment to the process" and posted a picture of the paper to his Twitter account.
"Made my grad students sign this today because if I'm going to commit to them, they need to commit to themselves," he reportedly said in a since-deleted tweet on Tuesday.
The tweet also included a picture of the form, which began by notifying students that failure to uphold the contract would result in a failing grade for the course.
The document first told students they agreed to "name the race and gender of any character at first introduction."
It also included seven additional binding commitments, such as naming their intended audience and treating the writing process as a series of "identifiable choices," not "magic" or "feeling."
"The Commitment to the Process" form also included of a list of eight other things students agree not to do. The paper had a requirement not to follow instructor Salesses on social media, miss class without advance notice or use "banned terms."
...
"I hoped to stress commitment rather than any kind of punishment—for example, following me on social media would of course not result in failing the course. Also, as we talked about in class with regard to best efforts, ‘banned’ terms should be taken to mean "AVOID" these terms in your feedback on others' stories,"
The teacher has now made his account private following criticism of his post.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
A PhD in Creative Writing…get me a Mocha Frappuccino.
“The document was first highlighted by Bradley Babendir, who appears to be a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) student at the Ithaca-based university.”
Who is the moron who wrote this article? Columbia is in NYC.
The Ivy League “Ithaca-based university” is Cornell.
Maybe the whole thing is fiction.
Who the eff does this guy thinks he is? Who pays his salary? College students need to get backbones and explain who is paying the bills and demand excellence for their money. Excellence doesn’t include being told what to do and what not to do. If teachers are actually excellent at their jobs and they stick to teaching things that pertain to the course topic, then students will be motivated to attend class and learn. If they are not excellent, then student should demand their money back. Yeah, I know, completely unreasonable and unrealistic.
Professor are bullies, yet they condemn others of bullying.
A perfect example is assigning a paper right before spring break and having it due due when they return. This is just some douchebag in a herringbone coat sticking it to his students.
This used to be called extortion.
Every 19th century author I have read would have failed this hacks course. One of the most famous openings in American literature is Melville’s “Moby Dick” with “Call me Ishmael”. This professor would have the gall to flunk Melville.
One of the more interesting debates in Victorian literature was where did Heathcliff from Emily Bronte’s “Wuthering Heights” come from. Since Bronte did not spell out Heathcliff’s race she would have failed this course.
That is absolutely the worst way for a novelist to introduce a character.
I wonder if ANYBODY who ever read Starship Troopers had the slightest clue that Johnny Rico was Philipino until literally the last page of the book ...
“One of the more interesting debates in Victorian literature was where did Heathcliff from Emily Bronte’s ‘Wuthering Heights’ come from.”
Right. I’ve always wondered about that! Not really. ;)
RAH was great.
Johnny Rico is Casper van Dien...
Kool
Only in Paul Verhoeven’s twisted imagination ...
I know. I really liked the book.
I still enjoyed the movie though it was meant to mock RAH’s vision.
Total Recall, Basic Instinct, and Robocop were decent.
“God damn bugs whacked us Johnny...”
RAH’s troopers were epic badasses. Verhoevens were a bunch of idiots.
OTOH, I did like the bugs literally farting ships out of orbit.
Details!!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.