A Political Education in Exeter Does Not Turn Your Child “Liberal”
Yasmine Al-Saket, Print Lifestyle Editor, reflects on her political education in Exeter and argues against the premise that universities breed liberal students.
0Image: A painting of “Freedom of Speech” by Norman Rockwell via Wikimedia Commons
To answer the question of whether university makes students more liberal, you’d need to define what it means to be “liberal”. Does being ‘liberal’ mean you engage in socially liberal activities, or how do academic universities try to push this idea onto you? In this article, I aim to dispel both of these ideas and propose that universities should be a space where individuals can engage with different political thoughts and ideologies.
University has always been and is a playground for keen students to engage in the public debate from the left to the right. In fact, this has shaped my time at university. I have attended a fair share of events with the Debating Society, as well as Labour and Conservative societies. This is the point of university: to learn and meet individuals of differing perspectives. At times, I agreed and disagreed with my peers and lecturers, which I believe is the best way to engage with your studies and beyond. Critically analyse why your argument is of a better persuasion than the others.
I believe that, despite universities sometimes having a “liberal” reputation. We have recently seen a rise in young people being right-wing; however, I disagree that the university has a preference for “liberal” students or that it makes students more liberal. Instead, it is a reflection of the political movements against the European governments, such as Reform’s rise in the UK and Trump’s political influence. In fact, due to the breadth of different individuals you can interact with at university, it does not make you either “more liberal” or “more conservative”. Modules such as political thought and Marxism classes allow you to deeply interact with texts such as the Communist Manifesto or Burke’s work, critically, not spoon-feeding ‘liberal’ ideas. As a Politics student, I have had lecturers from across the spectrum. I believe that it’s vital to be exposed to differing ideas to truly become politically engaged.
Recently, a lecturer said that “you don’t need to be a communist to do well in a Marxist class”, highlighting that your personal belief does not matter, but rather it is your ideas, your critical thinking, and your engagement with literature which define a great essay. It is easy to think that lecturers are biased; however, this has been proven wrong multiple times through the blind essay system we have on ELE and in-person exams, where your personal ideas do not and should not be impacting your engagement with academic literature. Moving beyond the academic, let’s focus on the personal. At Exeter, we are privileged enough to engage with a range of societies from the party political to the non-partisan ones.
It is fundamentally about integrity. If you are easily swayed by your peers, then it makes me wonder what your stance really is.
It is fundamentally about integrity. If you are easily swayed by your peers, then it makes me wonder what your stance really is. Whether you are of conservative or liberal persuasion, it is not “easy” to shift your perspective through an echo chamber. It is not as simple as universities “pushing” a liberal agenda like some may argue, rather it is how universities can sometimes operate as an echo chamber. Often, you will be in a social circle where you are in a space where you’d agree with everyone’s beliefs, through societies, clubs and sports. However, just like J.S. Mill, I believe that we should have a marketplace of ideas, allowing ideas to battle it out, regardless of their right or left groupings.
If universities try to encourage students to be more liberal, I say that it goes against the founding philosophy of the university.
Universities are and should be encouraging students to meet those of different political opinions. Although at times it may sound nasty, or not pleasing to the ear, it doesn’t mean that we should be creating a place where it is “right’” or more “comfortable” to be liberal, it should equally be explored from both sides of the argument, probing the why’s and how’s, not just encouraging the easy answers when it comes to having an intellectual debate about politics, social issues and wider society. If universities try to encourage students to be more liberal, I say that it goes against the founding philosophy of the university. We should be keeping it as our playground of thought, decisions, disagreements and more. When everyone has the same opinions, it defeats the purpose of an education. It is through those times when you are being questioned that your argument can develop and become better. The notion of having a right opinion, whether this may be liberal or not, is utter garbage in a political education.
Despite the headlines and stereotypes of Exeter being rather conservative, we still have a large population who aren’t, and that is what university is for, meeting people with different opinions!
A Political Education in Exeter Does Not Turn Your Child “Liberal”
To answer the question of whether university makes students more liberal, you’d need to define what it means to be “liberal”. Does being ‘liberal’ mean you engage in socially liberal activities, or how do academic universities try to push this idea onto you? In this article, I aim to dispel both of these ideas and propose that universities should be a space where individuals can engage with different political thoughts and ideologies.
University has always been and is a playground for keen students to engage in the public debate from the left to the right. In fact, this has shaped my time at university. I have attended a fair share of events with the Debating Society, as well as Labour and Conservative societies. This is the point of university: to learn and meet individuals of differing perspectives. At times, I agreed and disagreed with my peers and lecturers, which I believe is the best way to engage with your studies and beyond. Critically analyse why your argument is of a better persuasion than the others.
I believe that, despite universities sometimes having a “liberal” reputation. We have recently seen a rise in young people being right-wing; however, I disagree that the university has a preference for “liberal” students or that it makes students more liberal. Instead, it is a reflection of the political movements against the European governments, such as Reform’s rise in the UK and Trump’s political influence. In fact, due to the breadth of different individuals you can interact with at university, it does not make you either “more liberal” or “more conservative”. Modules such as political thought and Marxism classes allow you to deeply interact with texts such as the Communist Manifesto or Burke’s work, critically, not spoon-feeding ‘liberal’ ideas. As a Politics student, I have had lecturers from across the spectrum. I believe that it’s vital to be exposed to differing ideas to truly become politically engaged.
Recently, a lecturer said that “you don’t need to be a communist to do well in a Marxist class”, highlighting that your personal belief does not matter, but rather it is your ideas, your critical thinking, and your engagement with literature which define a great essay. It is easy to think that lecturers are biased; however, this has been proven wrong multiple times through the blind essay system we have on ELE and in-person exams, where your personal ideas do not and should not be impacting your engagement with academic literature. Moving beyond the academic, let’s focus on the personal. At Exeter, we are privileged enough to engage with a range of societies from the party political to the non-partisan ones.
It is fundamentally about integrity. If you are easily swayed by your peers, then it makes me wonder what your stance really is. Whether you are of conservative or liberal persuasion, it is not “easy” to shift your perspective through an echo chamber. It is not as simple as universities “pushing” a liberal agenda like some may argue, rather it is how universities can sometimes operate as an echo chamber. Often, you will be in a social circle where you are in a space where you’d agree with everyone’s beliefs, through societies, clubs and sports. However, just like J.S. Mill, I believe that we should have a marketplace of ideas, allowing ideas to battle it out, regardless of their right or left groupings.
Universities are and should be encouraging students to meet those of different political opinions. Although at times it may sound nasty, or not pleasing to the ear, it doesn’t mean that we should be creating a place where it is “right’” or more “comfortable” to be liberal, it should equally be explored from both sides of the argument, probing the why’s and how’s, not just encouraging the easy answers when it comes to having an intellectual debate about politics, social issues and wider society. If universities try to encourage students to be more liberal, I say that it goes against the founding philosophy of the university. We should be keeping it as our playground of thought, decisions, disagreements and more. When everyone has the same opinions, it defeats the purpose of an education. It is through those times when you are being questioned that your argument can develop and become better. The notion of having a right opinion, whether this may be liberal or not, is utter garbage in a political education.
Despite the headlines and stereotypes of Exeter being rather conservative, we still have a large population who aren’t, and that is what university is for, meeting people with different opinions!
Yasmine Al-Saket
Yasmine currently reads Politics and writes about both politics and lifestyle.
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