You're a Hippie Liberal, I'm a Hippie Liberal

When John Trimbur wrote, "the writing classroom has the intimacy of home," I thought Is he kidding (194). When he compared teachers to parents, I thought No Way! But then I began to consider how much teaching reminded me of being a mother. I call my grown-up students "kids" and threaten them with my mom voice. I have complained, on more than one occasion, feeling more like a parent that a professional. Still, I'm not sure Trimbur can claim that teachers act in loco parentis. If anything, we are the parent's evil twin, the academic antiparent.

Parents teach children to obey, to follow rules without question. "Do as I say, not as I do," etc... Liberal Arts instructors want only for their students to open their eyes, to at least be willing to question the rules. Writing on cultural studies, Trimbur claims that there is a "danger of representing students as cultural dupes," but in their freshman fawn-like state, that's exactly what they are (198). I can't tell you how many times I've seen a student roll their eyes and say "It's just a book," or "Can't we just enjoy a movie without having to pick it apart?" I think parents want teachers to act in loco parentis. Their worst fear is a hippie-holdover liberal in the classroom. Someone who will force them to rethink cultural "truths" like Christianity, heterosexuality and male dominance. Trimbul believes that some instructors have turned education into an institution that serves the capitalist agenda. I believe that parents (and students) are the ones with the capitalist agenda, the ones who believe that education=money. Liberal Arts (or just plain liberal) instructors have a lot to do to work against this agenda, especially when the colleges and universities they work for are capitalist institutions run by people who believe money=education.