Staging the Revolution (in Politics 101)

Abstract

One of the most frustrating tasks in teaching “Introduction to Politics” is to convey a tangible, realistic sense of what revolution means to American undergraduate students. Insulated as most Americans are from the turbulence of political upheaval (which is actually the norm for many of the world's nation-states), ongoing revolutions around the world are very far away from their own concerns.As a result, I decided to take a chance and engage in some of my own revolutionary teaching and stage a revolution in the classroom. I conspired in advance with several graduate students who were strategically positioned throughout the large lecture hall. For the experiment to succeed, authenticity had to be the key.I seized upon one of the students' main concerns and frustrations with the course: the protracted and inconvenient scheduling of their weekly sections with the teaching assistants. Half-way through one lecture I announced a change in the T.A. assignments. One student “rebel” (one of the plants) vehemently vocalized the class' sense of outrage. My altercation with him (as I autocratically asserted my role as authority) resulted in my telling him to leave the class. When he refused, I called on my teaching assistant (“lackey running dog”) to go to the dean's office (calling on higher authority and perhaps force) to quash this rebellion. When the teaching assistant attempted to exit, the rebel physically prevented him from leaving the room (true insurrection). As I went to break up the confrontation, I was expelled, along with the teaching assistant, from the lecture hall (overthrow).