http://www.CourseReviews.comCourseReviews.com - Vanderbilt Universityen-usCopyright 1997-2008 CourseReviews.comWed, 01 Oct 2008 09:37 ESThttp://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rssdylan.feed@coursereviews.com (CourseReviews.com)dylan.webmaster@dylangreene.com (Dylan Greene) hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://www.CourseReviews.com/u2184/review17310/A-pseudo-intellectual-BS-artistIt's been a while since I have taken a class with Goodman, but the disillusionment is still there. I can think of few people who can turn off students to the life of the mind the way this guy does. He has this very pompous way of talking, kind of like lambasting the class, but at the same time he just sort of makes it up as he goes along. He does not know what he is talking about. But he even does this when he is in a room of professors at a conference. It does not seem to bother him if he is in a room with 50 people who are experts on some scholarly topic and he rants on in front of them in a very condescending way and he seems to be only spinning out some bizarre theoretical fantasy that has little relation to the topic at hand. It's disturbing and embarrassing and insulting. He should at least read at least one book on the topic he is discussing. And his perspectives are not just conservative but reactionary, as his agenda is a wholesale rejection of any traces of relativism. I can respect any kind of thoughtful conservativism, but his attitude is knee-jerk and extreme and ignorant. But worst of all his conservative attitudes are coupled with an extremely facile and superficial knowledge. If he was a postmodernist, I could forgive this shallowness, or at least simply write it off. But he lacks basic integrity. And he is sooooooooo preachy on top of that. He has mastered that academic way of speaking. He has that to his credit. This one talent took him far. Some professors have only a kind of a technical rigor without a real understanding or feel for their field of study, but Goodman seems to not even have that, only the ability to parrot the technical language of the field. Well, he talks a good game. But it is disturbing and hypocritical and phony.noemail@coursereviews.com (lumloather)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u2184/review17310/A-pseudo-intellectual-BS-artist#comments2002-06-18T17:20:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u2184/review17310/A-pseudo-intellectual-BS-artisthttp://www.CourseReviews.com/u2184/review6932/Interesting-teacher-and-classI found this professor to be much more interesting than most others. He actually cares about his students and material and is not tired of his job since he works outside of the university as well. This is one of the few classes at Vanderbilt that you can learn something useful and make a good grade at the same time. Take it before Vanderbilt removes the class for being too useful and interesting. It will not escape the eyes of Kirkland much longer.noemail@coursereviews.com (Anonymous Student)http://www.CourseReviews.com/u2184/review6932/Interesting-teacher-and-class#comments2000-06-12T14:58:00-05:00http://www.CourseReviews.com/u2184/review6932/Interesting-teacher-and-class