Well, this answers the question of why those claiming to be dissatisfied customers of mine (“Yeah, I was in that class and I think you suck too”) need to vent anonymously about this post, rather than discussing our pedagogical differences in office hours. Apparently, at Dartmouth, classroom conflict has reached such a pitch that a teacher is suing her students. I had not realized that there are dimensions of my vast power to dominate others that I have not yet activated.

OK, seriously: I’m sure there is more to this than meets the eye, and both teacher and students have clearly run off the rails in what appears to be a Lord of the Flies situation. But I think the department chair and this woman’s senior colleagues may have some explaining to do as to why there hasn’t been a mentoring intervention at an earlier date. Things like this don’t just happen suddenly, in one class, one…

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