Oooh yes! A ripe topical topic for #AcademicTwitter.

Is having classes on the Monday, Tuesday before Thanksgiving break just stupid or extremely stupid?

It's been my standard procedure for a decade to announce on day 1 of fall semester that there will be no class that week.
It took me just two years of teaching in the US to realize the utter futility and even low key cruelty of scheduling classes on those two days. So many students are so far from home and so strapped for cash. Even the "best" students will often take those days off.
All universities in the US should give the entire Thanksgiving week off and eliminate the entirely pointless two days of classes, which neither the average professor nor the average student is very keen on. And see THE lowest attendance of the year. With good reason.
I've had students maintain perfect attendance all the way till mid-November so they can take that whole week off while still having almost perfect attendance. And I'm generally lenient with my attendance grades. But yet they do that. They shouldn't have to.
That's why I instituted the policy that even if scheduled, I'll have no classes during Thanksgiving week. And plan my Syllabus and pedagogy accordingly.

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More from @gauravsabnis

19 Nov
In case you're a non-Indian (or even an Indian) confused about what #Farmlawsrepealed exactly means and why everyone from Rihanna to Martina to Mia Khalifa were tweeting about it, here's a very simple thread laying out the simple facts.

60% Indians make a living through farming.
The modern Indian state plays a big role in agriculture, as a result. It tries to be the guarantor for all produce, set minimum support prices, provide a basic safety net. It's a progressive system put in place by INC people mostly. It has several problems too.
There are sectors of agriculture where government involvement causes more harm than good. And there are sectors of agriculture where government involvement causes more good than harm.

It's a complex world, right?

So anyway, Modi is always looking for some big "WIN".
Read 25 tweets
19 Nov
BTW brace for a lot of Dhume crowd to thinkpieces about how they are also not modi fans and they support protests and Brutus is an honorable man but those farm bills were actually a lovely libertarian thing that has sadly fallen victim to Greta and Rihanna's wokeness.
That public talks about farming policy with such inexplicable confidence as if they have a phawda on one shoulder and a yoked bull in the other hand as they head to the farm. Bro, you're like some random techie or MBA. Sit down. Let the adults talk.
This was one of those low points of @WSJ's editorial standards. Dhume churned out a column monetizing involuntary mansplaining. All Rihanna asked was why aren't we talking about internet shutdowns during farmers protests. But the compulsive corporatist went all Ayn Rand on her 😂 Image
Read 9 tweets
19 Nov
Bhakt meltdowns galore 🤣🤣🤣
Best is all the "hmpf, so all you need to do to repeal laws you don't like is go out on the streets and protest non-violently" as if it's a bad thing. When it's democracy 101. But sanghis don't understand democracy or the idea of a republic where protests are a fundamental right.
"maybe we should also go protest on the streets for repealing laws we don't like" said another butthurt sanghi.

Umm, y'all have like a two thirds majority in the Parliament. And y'all are in the streets everyday already. You use violence. #FarmersProtest didn't.
Read 19 tweets
18 Nov
In which our favorite Doctor demonstrates how you can call out #factcheckbait without contributing to engagement numbers.

The person posting knew it was a factually wrong post and was counting on QTs to build their engagement numbers.

Juney doesn't help the obvious troll.
Most sanghi Twitter influencers have built their following by posting something that is
1. Hateful about some minority
AND
2. Has some obvious factual error (like posting a pic of Indira eating corn but calling it seafood)

Even QTs correcting their error make them money.
Even when you're QTing someone to call them out as wrong or bigoted, you're still giving them a wider audience. In that, they reach more people on the sidelines whom they can try to convince.

Really, please, stop QTing fascists. Screenshot them if you must call them out.
Read 4 tweets
18 Nov
Oh this guy! Saying this! A supreme court lawyer BTW. This guy thinks he needs to offer a rebuttal to what I said. And we wonder why India's institutions unraveled so quickly. Because of "lawyers" like him.

Nikhil Mehra is a sanghi who is too craven to admit he's a sanghi.
I've had the misfortune of knowing Nikhil Mehra through online connections for over a decade. He does tend to side with the stupidest and angriest sides and seems allergic to empathy or humanity.

The complete surrender if the Indian judiciary to sanghis makes so much sense.
It's so cute though that he put out a whole podcast or YouTube or whatever to rebut my thread. 😂😂😂
Read 6 tweets
18 Nov
The problem with CBag is really simple. He's not grown out of his middle school high school IIT IIM glory days. That's when his emotional and intellectual growth peaked. So he says "make the naughtiest person the class monitor" and if I were 12 years old, I'd be like, YES!!!
The thing about life is, it is way more complex and way worse consequences than the way a 12 year old views school dynamics. So making the naughtiest boy class monitor is nothing like making an avowed bigot with a criminal record the CM of India's most populous state.
Similarly, "I have probs with mom but won't diss her to the neighbors" is a nice sentiment. But has absolutely no logical rational grown up connection to making the leap that you shouldn't criticize your country on an international stage.

It is such a stupid idea!
Read 5 tweets

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