Nameless at IU

I have two classes in which the professor doesn't know my name or really anybody else's for that matter. \nBig deal, you say; it's college. Classes are too big for professors to know the names of their students. \nBut that's the kicker, you see. Each of these classes is about 20 students strong. Is it really that hard to memorize our names, or do they simply not care? \nGasp. Did she just imply that a member of the distinguished IU faculty does not care about his or her bright and impressionable students?\nYup. I did. \nTake a typical day in a certain one of my classes. We all walk in and sit down in our self-designated assigned seats without a word to anybody else in the room except for our immediate neighbors -- because, apparently, the professor didn't think it was a good idea for us to introduce ourselves in the first week. \nThe professor walks in, clicks the PowerPoint on and begins: "In 1975 John Doe wrote his theory on blah blah blah which blah blah blah and some find comparable to Joe Schmoe's theory of the blah blah."\n(Dramatic Pause.) \nHe points. "You there, with the red shirt, do you think John Doe is comparable to Joe Schmoe?" \nRed Shirt Boy mumbles something pretty off base, but it's enough to satisfy the professor to return to his PowerPoint, and the whole cycle is repeated. \nPerhaps I'm overly demanding or overly critical of my honorable instructors, but I always assumed that, whenever possible, a professor would attempt to foster an environment of familiarity and open discussion amongst students and himself. \nWe've all read articles and heard complaints from faculty members who say they wish they could engage more students in discussion but that there seems to be an overwhelming lack of interest. \nWe might be very interested; we might be sitting there seething at something, craving a debate, wanting to speak out. \nBut, naturally, what value will we put in our own minds when, in a class of merely 20 people, an Ivy League-educated, Ph.D.-holding instructor reduces us to Red Shirt Boy and Curly-Haired Girl? \nNaturally, I'm not saying all instructors are like this. I have a wonderful teacher who does the exact opposite. Not only does she memorize our names, but if we don't participate in discussion everyday, we get points taken off. That, combined with her animated teaching method, has opened up even the shyest students. \nMany professors are interested in knowing who you are, in knowing why you decided to take their class. Sure, we students might tire of the beginning of the semester routine of "My name is Bob, I'm a biology major, and I'm in this class because I was interested in the mating habits of the aardvark." \nBut in the end, it's worth it.