“The modes by which we transmit these beliefs and values are not just like we walk into the room, and we announce, ‘You only get an A if you write a paper that conforms with my preferred worldview,’” says Connecticut College philosopher Simon Feldman. In this week’s episode of The Syllabus, Feldman and his colleague Afshan Jafar join Mark Oppenheimer to talk about what professors’ politics should and should not mean in the classroom—and how the right, they feel, has distorted the topic. 

Guest Bios:

Afshan Jafar: Afshan Jafar is the chair of the sociology department at Connecticut College. Professor Jafar was the 2021 recipient of the Helen B. Regan Faculty Leadership Award, the 2015 recipient of the Feminist Activism Award, and the 2014 recipient of the  Helen  at Connecticut College  at Connecticut College . She is the author of Women’s NGO’s in Pakistan and her public scholarship has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, LA Review of Books, Inside Higher Ed, and Ms. Magazine, among others. 

Simon Feldman: Simon Feldman is an associate professor of philosophy at Connecticut College. Feldman received the Connecticut College 2010 John S. King Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching.