I think the crux of Art's initial post was the general lack of respect on Professor Moglen's part. I'm not the nicest person in the world, and I don't expect him to sit in class and make us feel warm and fuzzy inside. However, I do expect him to accord people with a basic level of respect I think any individual deserves. I don't participate in class, and that's because I see no point in engaging with someone whose purported teaching style consists of oftentimes dismissing students' contributions. Some find it endearing and inspiring, I find it unconstructive. Last week, I went to office hours - despite my initial hesitation, hoping to discuss my first paper about the current political disarray in Nigeria and how it fits into my future goals, with Professor Moglen. Admittedly, I am quite clueless about what exactly I want to do help , but I went in there with the intention of parsing out my rather disjointed thoughts. Professor Moglen made several inflammatory remarks, but the most shocking of his pontifications about Nigeria's fate was the following: "I'm not sure whether Nigeria will exist in 2060, and I'm not sure whether it should." While he may have had the best of intentions, I left his office rather angry more unwilling than ever to share any thoughts or ideas with him. I don't know Professor Moglen, and he does not know me. That being said, I think a crucial element of the "tough love" method is developing some iota of a meaningful connection. I thus find the classroom to be a rather inapposite condition for the approach. Pedagogical methods aside, I did not come to law school to "get pissed on." I respect those of you that find demoralization helpful. Call me old-fashioned, but I would rather engage in helpful, polite discussion. These are just my two cents.

Respectfully.

-- TemiAdeniji - 13 Apr 2010