In my high school Theory of Knowledge class, there was a section dedicated to logical errors, known as fallacies. It was one of the few units I have encountered in a classroom that has completely transformed my cognitive process.
One fallacy I have continued to be fascinated with is argumentum ad verecundiam or appeal to authority. The fallacy holds that while an expert may hold legitimacy in his or her specialty area, it is a logical flaw to give that person added legitimacy to any commentary outside of his or her area of expertise simply based on prestige.
Having been in school for 17 years, as of this upcoming May, I have found that in every educational institution I have attended, my teachers have been guilty of conjecturing outside of the topic they were designated to teach. For example, the day after 9/11 many of my middle school teachers commented extensively on U.S.-Arab relations, stating that Arabs “needed an attitude adjustment,” or that the solution to the Arab “problem” was to “nuke the Middle East.”
What is most upsetting about these off-handed comments is not that they are in themselves offensive, or that they often reinforce systems of oppression. What upsets me most is that by virtue of being a teacher or professor, their abuse of this authority has a widespread effect on students that consume but do not question the validity of their professors’ views.
Last week in one of my business courses, a professor decided to share with the class a joke about rape by a well-known comedian as segue into a lecture about violence against women. However, having not been an expert in women and gender studies, I found him missing the mark completely. Instead of enlightening the class on the implications of comedians spewing out misogynistic garbage, or about the double standards that women face institutionally, he conversely legitimized, condoned, and excused sexist jokes, thus further strengthening the gender disparities in our society.
When I sit in a classroom where a teacher ignorantly comments to my peers about a group that I belong to or identify with, I feel disenfranchised from having my demands for respect and equality being taken seriously. This is absolutely unacceptable, especially in an institution of higher learning such as ASU, where students should be empowered to challenge injustice in society.
In order to keep our professors in check, these issues need to be addressed, either with the professor individually or with higher administration. It is absolutely necessary to prevent future misuses of power and this appeal to force.
This is our education. We should ensure we are the ones guiding it.
