I remember these classes mentioned in James' message. I don't think it was so much "PC"- more on the lines of how these younger students were taught in their schools up to that point. A number of students in these classes had not yet developed the maturity required to stand and speak up in front of what they perceived as intimidating. Their experiences were certainly very different from my experiences growing up in schools which greatly encouraged students to speak up one's ideas or opinions. There is a difference between what is perceived as intimidation and what is perceived as encouragement to have a thought-provoking and creative dialogue. (Yes, real intimidation does exist in colleges, but that is a different subject altogether for a separate discussion.) In my freshman year, I was only one of two students in a philosophy class who never hesitated to speak up in spite of one European instructor's tendency to scream if she didn't like the choice of words or concepts from any of us. It takes a mature student to understand that she did not realize how "intimidating" she could be to some classmates, and that her teaching method was not exactly the best way to teach. We two spoke up anyway, and it made for lively discussions. She became enthusiastic and highly respected us for it - even if she did not agree with our views at times. Passive students were not for her, and they soon realized that. It wasn't too long before they too began participating more actively in class. -----Original Message----- From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of James Brothers Sent: Wednesday, May 23, 2007 10:36 PM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Should we regret "PC" history? I would like to add something from my own experience as a student at Penn, Duke and a grad student at Penn and Wm & Mary. There was a major shift from the free wheeling debates I experienced as a student at the University of Pennsylvania in the 70s and Duke University in the 80s to what I saw more recently at Wm & Mary. If there was discussion in class it tended to involve three people- the professor and the two old guys in class (I was one). All of my fellow students had degrees from good universities, but apparently had little or nothing to say on a wide range of subjects, and they did very little but take notes. This made seminars a bit triangular, and not nearly as satisfying as they might have been. One day the two old guys agreed before one class that we would not make any comments. The professor stormed out of class after 15 minutes of deafening silence saying "If none of you did the reading you could have told me!". After he left the rest of the class looked accusingly at we two, as if it was all our fault. There are many possible interpretations as to why this occured. With what I have seen in other venues, I'm convinced it is "PC". A free and open debate is virtually impossible when most of the potential participants are unwilling to say anything that might possibly be interpreted in way that might offend. James Brothers, RPA [log in to unmask]