What My Students are Thinking 

What My Students are Thinking

I'm trying very hard to learn the names of students in my class, and get some real discussion going. The latter is partly a means to the former--when they want to speak, I ask their names.

The class is really bigger than the ideal--there must still be close to 70 people attending. Yesterday's class was on federalism, but after the break I asked them what they thought of the Bush-Kerry debate (I didn't see it myself--I was preparing for class). The discussion turned out to be mostly about health care. Many people said they are glad to have a system in which anyone can take a sick child to hospital or to a doctor's office--no questions asked. The implication was that American voters shouldn't be so resistant to such a model. A few students defended the U.S. model quite vociferously--either because the good care that people with good insurance get is generally so good (and I confirmed that to an extent from my experience) or because letting individuals choose is so important. (I asked the student who said that if he is a libertarian, and he said yes).

The passion around this issue was quite obvious.

Next week: Bush v. Gore. I've asked them to come prepared to argue that either Bush or Gore should have won.