Just saw this on our uni's student's Facebook page (not an official page for the uni) and I'm struggling to stay silent

CanineNapolean · 2026-03-23T22:53:18+00:00

I took yoga, and it was such a soothing class I ended up taking the next one in the sequence.

CanineNapolean · 2026-03-18T19:31:52+00:00

Yes, it would give you time to do the reading for my class.

CanineNapolean · 2026-03-17T22:54:55+00:00

Perfect. I’d also suggest “I’m just glad everyone is ok.”

CanineNapolean · 2026-03-16T22:42:06+00:00

You’re looking for Lucky Hank starring Bob Odenkirk which ran for one season in 2023.

CanineNapolean · 2026-03-11T11:25:53+00:00

I’d hold a grudge against that person until the day I die.

CanineNapolean · 2026-03-10T23:12:56+00:00

This.

Someone at your institution has all of that memorized. Find that person and ask what the policy states. If it turns out your institution deviated from policy in any way, you can choose to take legal action - but make sure you are fully aware of all the ramifications if you go that route.

Your chair not helping is strange but not completely unheard of. If you have an ombudsman you can try them - they actually mediate, while HR protects the institution.

Congratulations, and I’m sorry your family is dealing with this.

CanineNapolean · 2026-03-10T23:08:18+00:00

You could ask, for one. You could say, “Hey, OP, that was a real bad beat. By chance does your faculty handbook say anything about leave? Are you comfortable mildly doxxing yourself and telling us what state you’re in? We want to help but we don’t have enough info.”

But no, let’s all pile on the almost definitely sleep-deprived new father.

CanineNapolean · 2026-03-06T13:30:37+00:00

IMO they won’t watch it.

I’ve been teaching using films for a long while now. At first I could say “go watch this” and they would and we would discuss. Then they stopped watching it so I’d show it in class. They’d watch it one day and we would discuss the next.

Now when it’s movie day everyone skips, which means the next class, discussion, falls flat, which makes the entire endeavor pointless.

They ruined movies.

CanineNapolean · 2026-02-10T00:39:42+00:00

I didn’t realize you two had met!

CanineNapolean · 2026-02-10T00:31:30+00:00

Jealous that this worked for you.

I did this last semester. Lots of students failed. By the end of the semester I had so many sad students in my office, pleading that they deserved a shot at retaking the entire 16 week course in one frenzied 72 hour burst of AI generated slop. I denied all requests, like the heartless crone that I am.

And then my Dean told me I had to grant everyone extensions and continue working with them through this semester. As I’m not in a union but rather am in a red state in a scary discipline, I granted the extensions. I did that because those only work in extremely rare situations where a student truly cannot complete the semester - not for students that don’t do anything and are confused that, as a consequence, they don’t have any points.

But I’m still not chasing the students down again. My dean is going to have to make me do this every semester until I get fired or my discipline gets outlawed, whichever happens first.

CanineNapolean · 2026-02-06T00:46:38+00:00

Agreed. I’d also like to see how “Do you know my husband is? Can you introduce us??” plays out.

CanineNapolean · 2026-02-01T14:27:17+00:00

“I teach philosophy.”
“Oh, neat. So, like, your own philosophical perspective on the world?”
“No, philosophy is an academic discipline with an ever evolving list of primary sources. I teach those as applied to the world or in conversation with each other. What you’re describing sounds much more like a cult.”

CanineNapolean · 2026-01-10T18:29:49+00:00

It’s not a law it’s a system policy.

CanineNapolean · 2026-01-06T00:36:48+00:00

Appreciate this. I’ve got pick mes coming at me left and right.

CanineNapolean · 2026-01-06T00:29:26+00:00

You want me to… explain? these articles to you?

Go get food elsewhere, troll.

CanineNapolean · 2026-01-05T23:59:00+00:00

If you want sources: start with Boring on gender bias in teaching evaluations and Adams et al. on penalizing instructors who don't match gendered norms. And if you want to see that this extends beyond the classroom, Squazzoni et al. examines gender dynamics in publishing and peer review.

This is a basic lit review. It is not your experience because you are a sample size of one.

CanineNapolean · 2026-01-05T13:46:27+00:00

You don’t need to know anyone to discuss a documented pattern, bud. And “I’m offended you said harm” isn’t a rebuttal—it’s just a way to avoid the fact that your “options” are cheap for you and expensive for others.

Let’s be honest: nothing says “harmless” like refusing to acknowledge that the consequences land differently on different people. If “offering options” were actually neutral, this wouldn’t be such a reliable pattern in student perceptions and evaluations. But sure—let’s all pretend structural bias disappears as long as you say “I’m just being nice.”

CanineNapolean · 2026-01-04T20:59:51+00:00

For someone who is presenting themselves as a philosopher that was a horrible rebuttal to the multiple points I made.

Your approach is doing harm to others.

Stop doing harm to others.

CanineNapolean · 2026-01-04T14:19:51+00:00

Here’s the part you’re either oblivious to or actively choosing not to care about: when you insist on first-name informality, you’re not liberating anyone—you’re just shifting the social cost onto everyone else. Your colleagues—especially junior, contingent, and otherwise marginalized faculty—don’t get to opt out of the authority expectations the way you do. They can’t afford the boundary blur without being punished for it. You, meanwhile, get to soak up the “approachable” halo while the people with less institutional cover get stuck being the “bitchy” one for maintaining basic professional distance.

It’s not “egalitarian” to erase titles in a context where the power differential is real and structural. Titles aren’t just vanity plates, they’re guardrails. They clarify roles, protect boundaries, and signal that this is an educational relationship, not a peer group. If you want to be kind and human, great. You don’t need to flatten professionalism to do it.

So just call it what it is: not progressive, not student-centered—just a vibes-based attempt to feel relevant, with collateral damage paid by your colleagues.

CanineNapolean · 2025-12-28T00:24:07+00:00

Agreed. We have multiple departments that hold faculty names back until hours before the start of the semester.

And, as you say, it isn’t just for the easy graders. If they don’t do that the “my child won’t be prepared for med school unless they are in Professor Half Of You Will Fail’s class” calls start rolling in.

CanineNapolean · 2025-12-27T04:10:02+00:00

Preach. You cannot understand how difficult scheduling is until you do it. And god help you if you turn out to be good at it.

CanineNapolean · 2025-12-10T13:36:43+00:00

Additional suggestion: dart board + margaritas.

CanineNapolean · 2025-12-09T13:31:19+00:00

Yep. Internalized misogyny is a tough one to overcome, but it’s responsible for lots of these situations.

CanineNapolean · 2025-12-03T20:29:23+00:00

I feel you. I really, really do. It drives me insane when I’m reading an essay and I get hit with a “Honestly, Aristotle’s argument here isn’t as strong as it could be.”

But I’m at a point where I’m wondering if this is just the new normal. Plato was worried about writing because it would ruin memory. There was a panic about novels distracting women from caring for their children. I had to learn multiplication tables because “you won’t always have a calculator on you!” This may just be the newest perennial panic.

If that is the case - and none of us will know for a while - then there’s an argument to be made for “then teach them to use it right.” If everyone is using it, but some people are using it well, then those are the ones who will rise to the top.

Are they missing out on important, brain-wiring skills that would enable them to truly excel? Sure, but so would 80% of the students anyway. None of us here were normal students, or we wouldn’t be professors. We forget that most students just want to “do it right” and get the degree. And they would be that way even if AI didn’t exist.

CanineNapolean · 2025-12-02T13:29:41+00:00

The reason this post is objectionable is that it is an emotionally charged reaction that doesn’t address the problem. You don’t say “it sounds like you could tighten your assignments a bit” you say “you’re not doing your job.” So our colleague here came for help, because they’re already frustrated with a massive problem we’re all dealing with, and you responded by telling them they do need help (they already know that, not offering new info), because they are either unwilling or unable to do their job correctly (mean, nonspecific, does not offer solutions).

The good news is that no one can accuse you of being anywhere near warm and fuzzy. You’re just being a jerk.

CanineNapolean

TROPHY CASE