Noam Chomsky on "Rate My Professor.com"

[Nikki Stone 1]

He may be the most famous professor in the US, and the hero of the left, but even Chomsky gets dinged by his students.

http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=44844

Some sample comments:

"So far to the left he makes 1960s hippies look like Pat Buchanan. Thought provoking, but a bit of a nut. "

"He is a complete fraud!Writes sophmoric books that he knows the ignorant liberals will treat as the Bible. "


"Not a bad professor but a terrible human being. Does not support human rights although he will claim he does. "

And some students just slammed him with ratings of "1" (the lowest) in categories like "easiness", "helpfulness" and "clarity". And he didn't get a single point for "hotness" (ie, attractiveness, a rating just for fun.)

These comments are all for his linguistics courses, a field which he reinvented in the 1960s and early 70s, and keeps reinventing. Chomsky is the virtual pope of linguistics. These students are all from MIT.


(For the record, I love the guy. I just sympathize as someone who has been "evaluated" by students.)

[OneMoreDemocrat]

1. "These students are all from MIT"..........

Somehow I doubt it.

[yurbud]

2. I've had friends who went to Ivy League schools and seem that dense

look at Bush.

[Nikki Stone 1]

3. MIT is actually more conservative than other Ivies

from what I have read.

I have actually seen Chomsky speak and he is a compelling speaker in person, if irritatingly arrogant.

[lenidog]

5. I think you are being generous

I have only ever heard two other speakers as incredibly arrogant as Chomsky. One was Umberto Eco and the other was Michael Moore. If their was a Nobel prize for arrogance those three would win hands down. I may agree with them but I would probably end up killing them if I had to spend anytime with them.

[tishaLA]

11. Chomsky debated Foucault

and you can see it on DVD now. The latter won the arrogance competition. But he deserved to be, IMO.

[Minstrel Boy]

13. I was about to disagree, but then I read

"I may agree with them but I would probably end up killing them if I had to spend anytime with them."

and I had to laugh. I know that feeling, and there's no point pretending arrogance doesn't exist on the left. I could say something similar about Michael Ruppert. Largely agree with him, but God, spare us the ego.

[katinmn]

16. I've heard Chomsky a couple times and have the opposite impression

Chomsky is highly educated and his manner of speaking may put some off. But he is as down to earth and self-effacing as they come. He's stopped to talk with me, answered my emails, donated a copy of his latest book for a silent auction. He's a real sweetie and well-loved.
:loveya:

[Nikki Stone 1]

22. He may be better one-on-one

I met some of his students and they really like him. One of them also told me that Chomsky is the fastest typist he ever met. (Go figure!)

[Roland99]

7. I've only heard his debate vs. Perle

Very well-spoken and brings up great points.

[Bill McBlueState]

9. MIT's not an Ivy League school.

It's actually one of Massachusetts' land grant institutions. Originally, UMass was the ag school and MIT was the tech school. Somehow, MIT evolved into a private school while UMass became the flagship state university.

[Nikki Stone 1]

12. You are correct.

My bad for not remembering that.

[ConsAreLiars]

4. What a crock of BS

Anyone can rate anyone on that site. What ever made you believe that those ratings were legitimate, other than wishful thinking.

[BurtWorm]

6. How do we know he hasn't been freeped

as his books are at amazon.com, for instance? How do we know those are real MIT students, or real Chomsky students?

If they are actually his students, they're abusing the service and cheapening it. You rate a professor based on how well he teaches, not on what he believes.

[Nikki Stone 1]

8. There are legit course numbers on the evals

And some of the other comments (not posted) ring true. I have also looked up some profs I know at other schools on the same site, and the criticisms (and praises) are on the mark.

There are a small number of evals actually. If it had been freeped, there should be more of them.

However, it's certainly possible. But I can tell you that even the best profs get bad evals from some student with an axe to grind.

[BurtWorm]

10. I know that's true! I've written some myself.

But I didn't attack the professor personally. Just the style of teaching or what I viewed as unfair practices. It disgusts me to think that students don't know how to critique a professor without sticking to the facts. People don't use this service to read about Chomsky's views, which are pretty well known. They want to know if he's a good professor.

I read (in a New Yorker article I think) that Chomsky is NOT a good teacher, by the way. He is very impatient with questions or views outside of a narrow range--i.e., out of the range of questions he expects or views that are his own. His classes (the article claimed) invariably devolve into two groups: the Chomsky clique and the didn't-click-with-Chomsky clique.

[Nikki Stone 1]

14. That sounds about right

His personality tends to polarize. Even if you agree with him, you can find him maddening.

And sadly, lots of students make personal attacks on that website. The ones I have seen are actually pretty accurate, but not necessarily related to the course content.

I looked up several of my old profs from years ago and found the evals pretty much the same as I would have done then.

I also saw one of my favorite profs unfairly blasted on the site.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

15. of course he's been freeped

i'm not saying he wouldn't get bad ratings otherwise. there are brilliant old professors at every school that are horrible teachers and will get dinged on that page. inversely there are shitty professors who get high marks. regardless of individual professor accumen - it's a popularity contest - just so happens that Chomsky competes nationally. not to mention the shitkicking trash that invariably will go there and act like they were in his class.

[Nikki Stone 1]

18. There aren't that many evals on him--had he been freeped, there would be

more, I think.

It's interesting to check out your own profs and see how accurate the criticisms are.

[SlavesandBulldozers]

23. there are 61 more that arent shown

that can be viewed by patrons of the site. compare that to another professor.

take a look at the bottom of the page;)

[Nikki Stone 1]

24. Thanks. Just saw that

Gotta pay for a gold membership to see them all.

I wonder if this website actually checks.

We could always DU the thing. :)

[Zen Democrat]

17. Personally, I prefer Howard Zinn.

Everyone should see his autobiographical video "You Can't Be Neutral On A Moving Train" -- or read "A People's History of the United States."

Incredible and inspiring man.

[Nikki Stone 1]

19. I am reading his Peoples History this summer

Have you ever had a class with him?

[Crowdance]

27. I was a research assistant for him during that period

A Boston University work/study program. He is an amazing human being. He would talk about how he was "planting seeds" in his work at BU, hoping that his ideas would take root in us, his students, because there was just too much work to be done. Working for him was an exposure to higher truth, to be sure. His classes were always well attended, his words often caused his students to take action in the world and at the university. I only met Chomsky once, at a breakfast he hosted with the Berrigans at a deli, but he, too, is a remarkable man.

[Tinoire]

28. I am pea green with envy! n/t

:pea: :green: :with: :envy:


How fortunate person for you!

[Karmadillo]

20. Ooooooh! Anonymous criticism at a site where anyone from anyplace can

post comments. What a debunking! This is surely the end of Chomsky.

[Nikki Stone 1]

21. LOL! Looks like someone went to Ratemyprof to help him out

:)

http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=44844

SOC?

[moddemny]

25. I'm glad there are people who can see through.....

Chomsky.

[Swamp Rat]

26. HAHA! I got to rate him and I'm not a student... technically.

:D "The chair smells green through the looking gas. :-D ... SR"

Chomsky is great! ... or you're not a linguist. ;)

[Tinoire]

29. Lol. I'll go rate him later

being part of MIT's Open Course counts right ;)

[Swamp Rat]

30. Yep

His Open Course students tend to understand him and his work. :D

[Tinoire]

31. LOL!

And for once, a picture that won't give me nightmares ;)

[not systems]

32. Here is Ward Churchill

http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=429383

Obviously these ratings are bogus.