Lately I've been reading a graduate message board on the internet where applicants and current graduate school students can discuss the admissions process, funding and other issues. Today I read something that made me want to comment on my blog.
One person posted a question about whether they should go to a school if they have severe differences in political opinions from the faculty there. The overwhelming majority of responses were that it's better to be around people like yourself to discuss ideas you agree on.
That kind of attitude is definitely NOT what I'm looking for in a PhD program, especially in the social sciences. I remember once in an undergrad course on globalization when the topic of global warming came up. I mentioned that some scientists contested the global warming theory in favor of a theory that the world naturally goes through temperature cycles, like the ice ages. The class quickly dismissed those scientists as "ignorant" and erupted into shouts and anger, so I declined to contribute further to that discussion, but it made me realize that conflicting ideas can be squashed out of higher education. Is that really academic discourse?
Anyway, that's one of the reasons I wanted to go to a larger program. It's still only 12-15 students per year, but some programs take 1 or 2 students every couple of years. I know that I will have strong disagreements with some of the faculty (and students, for that matter), but that can only make me better informed about issues I care about. The problem comes when people take it personally and start name-calling or crying or whatever. It's great to have ideas batted around, and I enjoy that part.
Hopefully I won't have to deal with too many whiners, name-callers or holier-than-thou types. Unfortunately for those types, they're going to have to deal with me calling them out and making sure they really know what they're talking about. I most certainly don't want my cohort to be anything less than the best they can be.
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