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Academia, Love Me Back

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Re: Academia, Love Me Back

#2
It somehow feels that we are missing the other side of this emotionally charged post. I just used the word "hence" in a previous HN comment, but realize that I rarely use this word in verbal conversation.

However, this doesn't excuse the alleged behaviour of the professor in the article. When making a plagiarism accusation, is it common to call this out openly without attempting to address 1-1 first in academic settings?

Re: Academia, Love Me Back

#3
We (as outsider observers) lack the evidence to judge this story objectively. It sucks to be unfairly accused of plagiarism (it happened to me once in high school).

However, we don't know why the professor came to the conclusion that she plagiarised. Maybe they jumped to conclusions on limited evidence, or maybe this paper was written with vocabulary and sentence structure which was inconsistent with the student's earlier work. Either way, it's incredibly unlikely that an academic professor of sociology would be a closet racist.

tl;dr It's unfair to be accused of plagiarism for submitting a paper which sounds "too intelligent", but it's also unfair to be accused of racism for attempting to enforce academic standards.

Unfortunately, this a story which is going to press the internet's hot buttons.

Re: Academia, Love Me Back

#4
This is a truly well-written piece, and it accomplished everything it set out to describe without a diatribe or personal attack on the anonymous professor.

Considering how viciously accusations and personal vendettas can be carried out online, I think it's a great mark of character that she refrained from such tactics and explained the injustice she felt in a levelheaded way.

Re: Academia, Love Me Back

#5
This is crazy. If the story is true as written, the academic in question needs to be fired. I would expect nothing less at my own University.

I find the story hard to believe only because it is so terrible -- and that an academic would be stupid enough to accuse a student of plagiarism without concrete evidence (in particular, the text from which they plagiarised). However, even if the academic in question had such evidence, they still should give the student the chance to defend themselves.

Re: Academia, Love Me Back

#6
post #2

It somehow feels that we are missing the other side of this emotionally charged post. I just used the word "hence" in a previous HN comment, but realize that I rarely use this word in verbal conversation. However, this doesn't excuse the alleged behaviour of the professor in the article. When making a plagiarism accusation, is it common to call this out openly without attempting to address 1-1 first in academic setti…

Indeed. She seems to be jumping to the conclusion that her prof thought she would not use that word. When I first read it I assumed he meant that someone else had written that sentence that way before.

If she is right then what he did was heinous. If I'm right then what she did was pretty bad too.

Re: Academia, Love Me Back

#7
post #2

It somehow feels that we are missing the other side of this emotionally charged post. I just used the word "hence" in a previous HN comment, but realize that I rarely use this word in verbal conversation. However, this doesn't excuse the alleged behaviour of the professor in the article. When making a plagiarism accusation, is it common to call this out openly without attempting to address 1-1 first in academic setti…

I've never heard of such a thing, but perhaps that's because I am in a UK university. We have a formal procedure for dealing with such things, which certainly doesn't involve public humiliation. It also provides students the chance to defend themselves, which is obviously missing here.

Re: Academia, Love Me Back

#8
post #6
post #2

It somehow feels that we are missing the other side of this emotionally charged post. I just used the word "hence" in a previous HN comment, but realize that I rarely use this word in verbal conversation. However, this doesn't excuse the alleged behaviour of the professor in the article. When making a plagiarism accusation, is it common to call this out openly without attempting to address 1-1 first in academic setti…

Indeed. She seems to be jumping to the conclusion that her prof thought she would not use that word. When I first read it I assumed he meant that someone else had written that sentence that way before. If she is right then what he did was heinous. If I'm right then what she did was pretty bad too.

> This morning, my professor handed me back a paper (a literature review) in front of my entire class and exclaimed “this is not your language.” On the top of the page they wrote in blue ink: “Please go back and indicate where you cut and paste.” The period was included.

How are you possibly interpreting this passage as not an accusation of plagiarism?

Re: Academia, Love Me Back

#9
post #3

We (as outsider observers) lack the evidence to judge this story objectively. It sucks to be unfairly accused of plagiarism (it happened to me once in high school). However, we don't know why the professor came to the conclusion that she plagiarised. Maybe they jumped to conclusions on limited evidence, or maybe this paper was written with vocabulary and sentence structure which was inconsistent with the student's ea…

> Either way, it's incredibly unlikely that an academic professor of sociology would be a closet racist.

Just as unlikely as a priest being a pedophile.

Re: Academia, Love Me Back

#10
post #2

It somehow feels that we are missing the other side of this emotionally charged post. I just used the word "hence" in a previous HN comment, but realize that I rarely use this word in verbal conversation. However, this doesn't excuse the alleged behaviour of the professor in the article. When making a plagiarism accusation, is it common to call this out openly without attempting to address 1-1 first in academic setti…

I've never heard of such a thing, but perhaps that's because I am in a UK university. We have a formal procedure for dealing with such things, which certainly doesn't involve public humiliation. It also provides students the chance to defend themselves, which is obviously missing here.

There's a formal process at this girl's school as well, I'm sure.
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