A video featuring a University professor uploaded on YouTube on Nov. 8 and on conservative blog “The Hayride” two days later is stirring up controversy online.
The video, which features astronomy professor Bradley Schaefer leading a discussion in his Astronomy 1101 class, includes typed quotes from Schaefer and commentary from students.
The video shows Schaefer arguing with students who believe nothing should be done to fight global warming and challenging their ideas.
Students in the class were asked to sit in different areas of the room depending on their stances on the issue. Stances ranged from doing nothing to eliminating SUVs to eliminating engines altogether.
The video has garnered several negative comments on “The Hayride” from people questioning whether Schaefer’s discussions or class topics were appropriate.
One student can be heard in the video saying, “I think this is an opportunity for our teacher to openly mock us. That’s about it.”
But Schaefer said that’s not how the discussion went at all.
He said the video was edited to make it seem that he was singling out certain students in the class.
He said he intentionally chose to discuss something so controversial to engage his students and encourage them to form opinions.
“I’m a teacher,” Schaefer said. “I’m supposed to make them think.”
Schaefer said he challenged each student’s idea and didn’t discriminate based on political or social opinion.
“Someone on the other extreme could have edited it the other way,” he said.
Schaefer said he didn’t stray from science in his lecture and didn’t try to offer any political or social solutions to the problems associated with global warming.
“I wasn’t trying to pretend to put forth any answers,” he said. “I was merely trying to make everyone think. I have no better answers than anyone else.”
Schaefer said he didn’t lecture about anything that isn’t true.
“The science is incredibly well-known,” he said. “Scientists all agree on it.”
Schaefer said people on both sides of the issue are trying to dodge it by posting videos like that of his lecture and trying to place blame.
“People are trying to ‘twerk’ things around,” Schaefer said. “What really matters is what’s going on up there.”
Schaefer said the class had previously been learning about the temperatures of planets in the solar system and he thought segueing into the topic of global warming was the natural next step.
“For planetary astronomers, which is what I am, it’s very central to understand the temperature of planets,” he said.
Schaefer said the science of global warming has been taught for more than 30 years. He said he has been discussing this specific topic with his class at the University for years and also lectured on it when he taught at Yale University.
Schaefer said the response to his lecture will not deter him from discussing global warming in the future.
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Contact Rachel Warren at [email protected]