Teaching and the Responsibility of Professors as Intellectuals
By Jean Sauvageau
Jean
Sauvageau
In my opinion, higher education is synonymous with intellectual responsibility. As scholars, we are in a privileged position, one which stems from easy and ample access to information, political liberty and freedom of expression. By training, we are equipped with reading grids that enable us to analyse the pronouncements, policies and actions of private and public agencies and the media. That we use those assets in our possession responsibly should be the least that is expected of us in a liberal arts institution such as St. Thomas.
As university professors, we find ourselves in a position to lead by example, using that privileged position to speak up and take concrete action for social justice and democracy. That being said, I have to admit that I find it an impossible tenet to see myself as the traditional positivist scientist, the detached observer and commentator of the social situation. On the contrary, I believe it is our duty, as intellectuals, to correct disinformation and denounce the wrongful behaviours of private and public institutions. (Granted, given their record, the task is enormous.)
Institutional actions require direct protest. This is what I realized when I saw the federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans officials deliberately ram their boats into the vessels of native lobster fishermen. For one thing, these life threatening actions appeared grossly out of proportion with the aims sought (removal of lobster traps). It goes without saying that no one should take such drastic action unless another human life is in danger, something which was far from apparent in that context and something which was never even claimed by the DFO itself. And the other thing which bothered me was that those actions were undertaken by representatives of my own government — “on my behalf” — and that, I could not accept. I may not have much of a say as to what goes on anywhere else in the world (which never prevents me from saying it when I want to — globalization oblige), but I will certainly let the government of my own country know that I do not agree with its unjust policies and its reckless behaviour. That is what prompted me to draft a letter of protest to the minister responsible for DFO, a letter which I made available to St. Thomas faculty (my fellow intellectuals) for their signature.
Not only is it the responsibility of intellectuals to denounce nonsensical actions, wherever they may occur, but we also have to realize that institutional discourse alone will often take an issue in certain directions, excluding other possible discourses, otherwise worthy of consideration, but drowned out by the sheer power of official institutions as credible voices. The casting aside of alternative discourses may have the effect of creating certainty about an issue, and certainty has been the one ingredient which has presided over many human catastrophes in the course of history. Given this, the responsibility of the intellectual is also to help create a climate for the tolerance of a multiplicity of discourses to be heard, to help make room for replacement discourses when the mainstream hegemonic version of events is detrimental to some individuals or groups.
For example, I read many media articles every day (both printed and on the web). When I come across a gross distortion of facts about crime and the criminal justice system–my area of predilection–sometimes (but, I admit, not nearly often enough) I will take the time to write the editor or the journalist responsible for the article. I will suggest other ways of looking at the issues and recommend documentation and individuals to consult. My responsibility as an intellectual calls for proactive actions. In this regard, American criminologist Gregg Barak coined the term “newsmaking criminology” to invite criminologists to offer their expertise to the media rather than shun it.
The responsibility of the intellectual is, in the end, to foster a healthy climate of doubt and uncertainty. And it is up to us, as teachers in the classroom, to show students the implications of action versus inaction, openness of mind with respect to justice and democracy. As I often tell students, higher education is not about giving answers, but about asking better questions; it is not about problem solving, but about problem making. The very stuff, I believe, of justice and democracy.