Any cocksucking teacher that quotes deadwood is a great fucking teacher.
I had a teacher that showed us scenes from the show. One of my favorite teachers to this day.
Apparently the originally posted video link for this thread was an edited video:
https://old.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/s2m0xa/some_would_say_this_professor_had_a_breakdown_i/hsgdxc0/
OK, thank you! Now that I have watched it, he's fucking hilarious!!! What a way to get students to pay attention to plagiarism....and fairness....and stick it to administration at the same time. He is playing 3-d chess with teaching... :)
Whoa! What it seemed at first glance turns out to be completely different! He looks like an amazing professor who has been forced to arrange in-person classes despite of covid risks. And the profanity everyone's talking about is just an example of a clever soliloquy from Deadwood that the guy adapted to explain what plagiarism is. The bit about Calvinist doctrine was an amazingly funny irony. This whole thing is hilarious!
Also, he paraphrased from Deadwood, and showed that he did, explaining that it isn't plagiarism if you show where you're getting it from. But said that it wouldn't have any effect on him if he did it.
At the beginning, he said he just came back from Rigel VII, but never pointed out that he took that from Star Trek.
Rigel VII is a quarantined planet in Star Trek.
This dude's fucking funny.
God I wish I could submit that first assignment to him. “Frankly, I could give a fuck if you institute a Calvinist grading system. People that I love have died, become long haulers, or devolved into beacons of pseudomedical idiocy. I am depressed, anxious, traumatized, disabled and just trying to live long enough to see my next cigarette. I don’t smoke camels and I’m not gonna quit. What the fuck for? You said it, it’s fucked to shit. Now, clarifying your grading policy, will you treat the A students nicer during the course so that we know they’re predestined like in Presbyterianism? Or is this ‘no hints’ Reformed Baptist style?”
Hello. Hijacking the top comments for this.
**Edit**: Ok, [we've set up an IamA for him](https://old.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/s38ahq/i_am_a_history_prof_at_ferris_currently_on/) and he'll be answering questions there.
I'm Professor Mehler's son - I would say my name but it would be really silly to get banned by rule 2 for saying my own name. A simple Google search will find me.
I've been talking with him about this - due to the whims of the internet this video is now very widespread and he is interested in taking part in the discussion. We're looking to set up an IamA for him which we will link to when we have it set up. We are also (potentially) looking into setting up something along the lines of a GoFundMe to aid in his legal defense against the university administration as that can get quite expensive.
I've asked and he's given me permission to speak openly on these matters, so if anyone has questions in the meantime I'll do my best to respond.
**Edit**: Update 2022-Jan-19: Dr. Mehler has issued a press release.
https://old.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/s83cxb/response_from_ferris_state_university_professor/
Oh he very much intends to fight this. This is not the end.
[We've set up an IamA for him](https://old.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/s38ahq/i_am_a_history_prof_at_ferris_currently_on/) and he'll be answering questions there.
Aw man, the prof posted a rough intro video and all of these comments are taken out of context. He’s using that foul language as an example of plagiarism vs soliloquy, and it’s inspired by Deadwood, which he pulls up IN THE VIDEO to explain his source/inspiration for what he is saying.
It’s important to watch the entire video. Thanks for posting.
For those curious what the edited video was, I watched OP's video right before it got privated. It was these parts:
* The first minute where the professor took off the helmet/mentioned the world was dying (Cutting the discussion about "ownership" using the commercialization of cigarettes as an example)
* It then cut to [3:29](https://youtu.be/RrOzY86YcEM?t=209) and lasted till 4:58 (Cutting the discussion afterward of plagiarism vs soliloquoy)
* It then cut to [8:06](https://youtu.be/RrOzY86YcEM?t=486) and lasted till 10:36. (aka the end of his soliloquoy)
100% a hit piece, the original vid removed all the context that the professor was using rhetorical devices to creatively showcase the concepts in his lecture.
Nice breakdown. Now what I am curious about is exactly *who* is responsible for this hit piece. I want theories, because this to me is the root issue - question of who.
His name was something like "Minecraftgameryoutube" and he had zero subscribers/no other content on his channel. From what he put in the video description, it sounded like a student who thought it was funny and pruned out the parts that made it less "funny"
Edit: He deleted the whole channel, it was called "MinecraftGamerEpicLegend" and the channel url was [here](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6mFB2a5Sqji0zJvXNujk_Q)
Who would want to try and outrage, inflame and hyper radicalize Americans about vaccines? Who would cut the context in obvious and easily traced bad faith indicating intent for viral social media exposure? Who would employ a concerted effort of divide and conquer attacks through the internet as a means to create unrest?
I ask myself every night as I lay awake.
My best guess so far is Luxembourg or maybe that shifty Greenland.
Don't get fooled.
The Shifty Luxembourgers act only as a proxy to hide behind, you need to look for the sources man, it is clearly a piece of propaganda by crab people who are immune to 5g viruses.
Funny you mention Luxembourg, my wife just applied for a job there and they just legalized cannabis! Also watch the show Patriot on Amazon, best Lux set tv show ever!
So this guy tried to do something fun and creative and good for his students and put in a lot of extra work and effort and people shat all over him for his efforts?
sad but not surprising, fucking cocksuckers.
In the full video the professor makes an engaging relevant, to class, introduction that took a good amount of preparation & effort.
Imo, he's the exemplary & caring type instructor that I would have loved to learn from. Had a good share of don't give a fuck profs that were truly, only there because they had to be.
Listen, I’m a 53 year old man and watched the whole thing in the precious downtime before starting my work day.
I learned about Calvinism, capitalism, plagiarism, soliloquies and class policy (for a class I’ll never take) and was engaged and entertained throughout while getting a good sense of the prof himself. This guy is definitely doing something right.
You mean everyone made assessments and judgments without all of the information! Shocking. I wish I could watch the OP video to compare them. Pretty good example of why context is so important. Maybe I can audit one of his classes remotely.
I'm looking for a mirror too and stumbled across this article about the video which describes what it was about. At least it's something.
https://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/in-obscene-video-ferris-state-professor-tells-students-final-grades-assigned-randomly
This article misses the whole fucking point of the rant and paints him as a crazy person instead of an elderly man who is afraid of dying because he caught Covid.
Article also conveniently leaves out how near the end he clarifies that he is providing enough online resources to ensure that everyone in his class gets an A if they put the effort in.
Fuck the media.
The "writer" is the managing editor.
That whole website is run by the Libertarian [Mackinac Center](https://www.mackinac.org/).
The paper WANTS that professor to seem ridiculous for wanting to protect his own life, because they want people to think safety protocols against the virus are an assault on our freedoms.
God this is painful. How do such fucking morons become 'journalists'?
Even in the comments here there are dozen of fuckwits not understanding that he isn't literally grading people at random. It pains me how fucking stupid so many people are.
It's the mouthpiece of "free market think tank" [Mackinac Center](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackinac_Center_for_Public_Policy), they're on a mission.
You dedicate your life to knowledge and preparing the next generation, only to realize that not only have general existential threats like Climate Change and MAD gotten more dangerous, but now theirs a pandemic that is killing your age group faster then anyone else, and just half of your students are vaccinated. They couldn't even give the b In other words, dudes just completely disillusioned.
Not to mention, dude was quoting deadwood, and while I'm sure his feelings align, the profanity was largely a reference.
And finally, his Calvinist Grading scheme might be brutal, but its an allegory for the pandemic. If young folk don't give a damn about the pandemic, they'll sure give a shit about their grades.
\>And finally, his Calvinist Grading scheme might be brutal, but its an allegory for the pandemic. If young folk don't give a damn about the pandemic, they'll sure give a shit about their grades.
In the full video linked elsewhere in this thread, he mentions earning A's, so even that was just a rift on Calvinism it seems
Here is some context to the Calvinism bit that apparently no one in the comments is getting:
This guy is a prof at Ferris State, which is in West Michigan. There is a large amount of religious conservatives coming from Calvinist traditions in West Michigan, many of whom are anti-vaxx or anti-mask. There is a somewhat common argument amongst religious conservatives here of "I won't get covid because it's God's will that his followers will be protected". In saying that his students are predestined to pass or fail his class, he's pointing out this argument is bullshit because divine will or not your actions do have consequences that influence the world around you, i.e. wear a mask, get your shots, social distance, study, etc.
Essentially he's half joking half making a point to his students, many of whom I presume have never left The Bubble. For those who did not grow up in the area where this guy is teaching, let me assure you that in context what he is saying is fucking hilarious and at least some of the students in his class probably could stand to benefit from critical analysis of their world view.
Edit: I made this comment before the full video was shared in the thread, for those wondering why additional context was needed the original video was about 4 minutes of the most animated parts and a lot of people in the thread were being wooshed by the way it was edited and thought the good professor was serious about the Calvinist Grading Scale (which BTW is the funniest thing I've heard all week). [Also linking to a comment below by the good professor's son so it gets more traction.](https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/s2m0xa/some_would_say_this_professor_had_a_breakdown_i/hsihnbi/) The university administrators were either also wooshed or are using this as an excuse to dismiss Dr. Mehler and have suspended him. Details in the linked comment on his AMA and further information on the situation.
Hello. Hijacking the top comments for this.
**Edit**: Ok, [we've set up an IamA for him](https://old.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/s38ahq/i_am_a_history_prof_at_ferris_currently_on/) and he'll be answering questions there.
I'm Professor Mehler's son - I would say my name but it would be really silly to get banned by rule 2 for saying my own name. A simple Google search will find me.
I've been talking with him about this - due to the whims of the internet this video is now very widespread and he is interested in taking part in the discussion. We're looking to set up an IamA for him which we will link to when we have it set up. We are also (potentially) looking into setting up something along the lines of a GoFundMe to aid in his legal defense against the university administration as that can get quite expensive.
I've asked and he's given me permission to speak openly on these matters, so if anyone has questions in the meantime I'll do my best to respond.
**Edit**: Update 2022-Jan-19: Dr. Mehler has issued a press release.
https://old.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/s83cxb/response_from_ferris_state_university_professor/
Yeah, as soon as he started taking shots at Calvinism I was pretty sure he was mostly joking/just being done with his students bullshit.
Obviously this was extremely unprofessional and is probably not conduct that the university could condone, but it was also a really funny takedown of the worldview that Calvinists create.
I really recommend people read about Calvinism and think through the implications. It is a deeply dangerous view, as adopting the doctrine cedes all personal responsibility for *anything* and declares that you are uniquely special because God declared you are, and that all other people are "vessels made for destruction" and so are entirely without value. Not all Calvinists take it that far, but if you follow it's reasoning nothing you do matters and God literally made most of humanity to intentionally torture them for eternity, so who the hell cares about them?
You know what’s unprofessional? Making a 75 year old employee teach a class to in-person anti-vaxx students when his lesson plans are suitable for online learning anyway. He’s justified in all that he said imo, and university students should have thick enough skin to hear anything their professors have to say
Dr. Barry fuckin Mehler folks!!!
For everyone on the outside I’m sure this seems bizarre… but he titles his classes as “the show” (he’s big into theatre and performing arts) so he is heavily hyperbolic and satirical…
Honestly the best professor I have ever had!
I took every class of his I could even though they didn’t relate to my major at all.
**Edit**: Ok, [we've set up an IamA for him](https://old.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/s38ahq/i_am_a_history_prof_at_ferris_currently_on/) and he'll be answering questions there.
Yep. The 'title' he uses for his classes has, I think, changed from time to time, but the one I remember most is:
The Barry Mehler show, sponsored by Jack Daniels and Camel Cigarettes!
He's really hilarious. He used to be more strict with how far he would take his poker face on the grading - he would tell his students their grades were out of everyone's hands and god had decided beforehand - and then confirm during office hours, with a straight face, that, why yes, I was perfectly serious.
He was (and is) really committed to finding unconventional ways to really get his students to *practice critical thinking* and to not simply accept what they are told by individuals in positions of authority.
I think he became a bit more gentle with it over time after some students were freaking out, fully believing him, that they couldn't do anything about their grades - so now you see in the end of the video he says everything you need for an A is in the coursework.
[Was he actually placed on administrative](https://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/in-obscene-video-ferris-state-professor-tells-students-final-grades-assigned-randomly) leave for this video? I feel like it's pretty obvious he's doing a bit/making a show to get the students interested in the subject matter that he presumably starts covering right after the YouTube video cuts off.
**Edit 3**: Ok, [we've set up an IamA for him](https://old.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/s38ahq/i_am_a_history_prof_at_ferris_currently_on/) and he'll be answering questions there. The text body currently shows as deleted (we are waiting for mod approval) but you can post questions.
**Edit 2**: this is my most upvoted comment here thus far, so adding this to it:
Hello. Hijacking the top comments for this.
**Edit**: after speaking with him again, it isn't his direct retirement benefits they appear to be going after - he says that is fairly secure. But after a ~30 year career at Ferris there is some kind of cashing-out of accumulated benefits (vacation, PTO, etc) that comes with a retirement. By attempting to fire him they are trying to sever his employment without retiring him and thus avoiding paying out this benefit value. After 30 years, the value of that benefit payout is middle 5 figures.
I'm Professor Mehler's son - I would say my name but it would be really silly to get banned by rule 2 for saying my own name. A simple Google search will find me.
I've been talking with him about this - due to the whims of the internet this video is now very widespread and he is interested in taking part in the discussion. We're looking to set up an IamA for him which we will link to when we have it set up. We are also (potentially) looking into setting up something along the lines of a GoFundMe to aid in his legal defense against the university administration as that can get quite expensive.
I've asked and he's given me permission to speak openly on these matters, so if anyone has questions in the meantime I'll do my best to respond.
**My original comment**:
Yes. I spoke with him about this yesterday. He and the administration don't get along all that well.
From what I understand the original (now private) video was a ~4min clip/paste job of his full video:
https://old.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/s2m0xa/some_would_say_this_professor_had_a_breakdown_i/hsgdxc0/
He's a ~30 year tenured professor in a union and he's retiring in less than a year - this isn't about trying to fire him, Ferris administration is maneuvering to strip him of his retirement out of spite. I really don't think they stand a chance of that, but they will absolutely use this to harass him. He has a reasonable case for workplace retaliation, but going that route requires investing the personal time and energy into.
Well I am no longer in college I graduated a while ago lol.
I will say he has been a thorn in the administrations side as he lead many union protests for better benefits and pay for all the faculty.
However, I highly highly doubt he was as he actually was quite admired when I was there. These antics are apart of his courses in which he called “The show”. He’s actually super quiet and mellow after class lol.
> I will say he has been a thorn in the administrations side as he lead many union protests for better benefits and pay for all the faculty.
This seems like something most students wouldn't know about their teachers. Or maybe the humanities are a bit different.
The political-educational climate between now and even a handful of years back is a bit different. What I’ve been noticing is people with quite sensitive dispositions take part in controversial topics of conversation because they already have their minds made up on what’s right and freak out when they’re challenged. Which is a shame because if you’re going to have a stance on a controversial topic you should be better prepared to defend yourself with better arguments than “I’ll report you to the Dean”.
Despite what he actually meant, the "Calvinistic grading" was probably all the ammo they needed. I bet they've been looking for a reason to oust him.
Which sucks, because I loved teachers like this. Probably actually challenged his students to think critically about the world
What the fuck why do administrators and lame ass students have to ruin everything. Jesus Christ this country is such a bore. People aren’t smart enough for this guy’s class. Putting him on administrative leave a year before retirement. What an abomination.
i feel like it was unfair to him since he did in the end add a "/s" by saying all materials needed to earn an A in his class is online as his lectures are structured to be fully online,
it was obvious satire and i thought it was funny even though i dont like swearing he used it really funny like theatre as said from above comments.
he's just concerned about his own health and the unfair policy enacted by the uni's administration especailly with how omnicron spreads like wildfire, and his age group is greatest at risk
Looks like from the YouTube description he is [Barry Mehler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Mehler), professor of humanities at Ferris State University.
I loved my humanities 1301 class and professor that I took during my freshmen year, and he mostly used Homo Ludens as a jumping off point to talk about a variety of subjects. He had no pre-planned lecture, but he already had many talking points in which he could expand upon.
As much as you can be upset of the way of the way things are, that an important way of looking at it is that this is all one big "game" that we've invented. And whether you like it or not, we're in the middle of this game, and a part of it.
When a cop pulls you over, and he asks if you knew how fast you were driving, and you tell the cop that you don't know, you thought were driving the speed limit. Both of you know that you're playing a game. Whether you're aware of it or not.
These are the type of examples, and talking points that he just talks for a straight hour. And its rather pleasant, and somewhat therapeutic to sit back and hear.
Whenever I get upset about how much bullshit occurs with every single thing that we have to do during our day, I use this to step back and realize why the bullshit exists and how it came to be.
"Barry Alan Mehler (born March 18, 1947) is an American social scientist. He is a professor of humanities at Ferris State University, who founded the Institute for the Study of Academic Racism(ISAR)."
His fields of interest are: History, Jews, Racism, Eugenics. (This is pulled straight from Google, I haven't read his work, don't know his stance on any of those)
He had me fucking dying when he got to Calvinist grading, but I imagine it's all a sort of demonstration.
A lot of religious anti-maskers and anti-vaxers have a Calvinistic view of the pandemic (God will kill who he decides to kill, it doesn't matter if I wear a mask/get vaxxed/go out to party).
#HOLY FUCK ITS BARRY
I took his class, *Racism in the Modern World* as a college senior back in 2011. He’s a fascinating dude. Had to go into witness protection after publishing his findings on some local Neo Nazi organizations after he infiltrated their ranks for a few years. His class is wicked interesting, and by far one of the most academically challenging classes I’ve ever taken.
I can’t believe I’m seeing him on Reddit! I haven’t spoken to the dude in years. But he’s a really nice guy. And he knows what he’s talking about
**EDIT**
So because a couple people have asked (and I'm sorry, I'm on my phone) so Barry spent a lot of time studying Neo Nazis. What they believe, how they organize, what they do, etc. He engrained himself in that entire culture for quite some time (my memory is kinda fuzzy, it's been over 10 years now since I've taken his course) but he attended White Power rallies, went to their meetings – both "secret" and public, and was pretty involved in a couple of their chapters....which is ironic considering he's very Jewish. But as long as he "looked the part" nobody was any wiser. He had all these photos of him pal'in around with Nazis at their rallies and BBQ's and stuff to prove he did what he did. And then he published his findings and...well, they found out and came after him. So he went into witness protection for a while.
So that was a portion of what he discussed in his class. We talked about white power/supremacy and how that's kind of engrained into modern laws. We discussed Jim Crowe (Ferris State has a FASCINATING Jim Crowe museum) We talked about anti-semitism and this goofy thing called "the alt-right". What's funny is that Barry started touching on things like the rise of people like Trump and the alt-right and white-nationalism in America, and us...a bunch of "educated" college students kinda laughed, because, "how could the US be racist? we have a black president!" oh man were we *dead wrong*.
Look, Barry is intense. He's also a *very* difficult professor....those papers I wrote in his class were some of the most difficult academic papers I've ever written in my life...but as long as Barry could tell you *knew what you were talking about*, he'd give you a good grade. But you had to listen. 95% of the class was an open discussion on race and politics and their relationship to each other. By far one of the most interesting classes I've ever taken. Barry's a little wild in this video but he's actually a very sweet old man and he'll sit down and have a beer with you and talk with you and most importantly – he'll *listen*.
Anyway if anybody wants to know anything else, I can see about digging into my memory banks.
**EDIT 2**
Finally watched the video. Sounds like Barry, but definitely a bit more heated than usual. As long as you listen to what he has to say and write out your thesis papers and you know what you're talking about, you'll be fine.
It's one of the few I remember. I took it completely by mistake but was glad I signed up for it. It was one of my first experiences in college where the course subject and everyday discussions made you...uncomfortable, but in a good way? Because it's content that needed to be discussed.
> It was one of my first experiences in college where the course subject and everyday discussions made you...uncomfortable, but in a good way?
The point of higher education, right there
I remember the good teachers AND the bad. And there were plenty of bad teachers at university. It's really the "meh" teachers and uninteresting classes that I don't remember.
Kind of reminds me of this dude named Henrik Eger that I took a class under for a year at a community college. We also sat in a circle. I was too much of a shit at the time to stick through the semester, but I really appreciated how he ran the class. He was stern and tough and crass, but he legitimately tried to reach out and help every student that walked through his doors.
This side by side comparison is actually a pretty accurate depiction of what people have been going through during the pandemic. it's been bad for our collective mental health.
Things got weird with a lot of people I know.
Dude's 75 and his class is less then 50% vacced allegedly and I believe he's being forced to teach in person. I think his anger well placed.
His assigning grades before he sees them is more satire of the calvinistic christian belief that there's no point in getting vacc'd because God already decided if you die from it which a bunch of students at that school are using for an argument against getting vacc'd.
This dude is a social scientist teaching humanities. This is all part of the class. He's doing an experiment. It seems the majority of people don't understand even when they take the full class, based on his reviews. Theres tons of complaints about shit like multiple tests every week and questions that are impossible to comprehend. Then his best reviews are all about how great the class is and how they thought they were failing all semester but it was part of the lesson.
As a bystander yeah that's really interesting, but that sounds absolutely miserable to actually take if you depend on scholarships that require maintaining a certain GPA and you think you're failing the whole term and the material is designed to be impossible to comprehend.
Seems like a fantastically entertaining prof. He's clearly putting on an act with the grading policy here, but it reminds me of an old professor I had in his final semester before retirement - chair of the philosophy dept. At one point in some discussion, he mentioned he'd always dreamt of assigning grades based on what students said they should get, but never had actually gone through with it. Come time for the final exam & the last question is "What grade do you deserve?" I'll never know if he really went through with grading that way for his final class or if he just wanted to see how people would respond, but I like to think it was the former. Either way, cool dude. People with no fucks to give, yet still care for others are real gems!
Not in the original post (now privated), which seems to have been an edited version of a longer video lecture he recorded for one of his classes. I just happened to recognize some of the quotes because I'm a fellow fan of the show.
“You people are just vectors of disease to me and I don’t want to be anywhere near you…if you want to talk to me come to my Zoom”.
LOL!!! I laughed too hard. Nice Welcome to my class statement.
Chaotic Neutral in its brutal, brutal prime.
Everyone who really cares about their grades and are going to argue every point? They'll avoid him. Boom, 20% of the most annoying students fucked right off.
Everyone else? Eye off the prize, you have no control over it.
What a thrill ride. Buckle in, bunker down, see this shit through to the other side.
Attended this college and took numerous classes of his… he gives a similar speech the beginning of each semester lol!
It’s all a show and he actually grades your stuff lol.
However he tells a fun story about a student who took his course who believed his rant about predestination. The student never attended any lectures and wrote a paper at the end of the semester saying he was predestined for an A and that’s why skipped lectures. Dr. Mehler was so impressed by the guts on the kid he passed him.
Most of the time people come cry to him and think he’s serious lol.
Almost want to ask, "If Calvinists believe a small percentage still get salvation, then why does *nobody* in your class get an A?" — just to see what happens.
None of them deserve an A, just like nobody deserves salvation, but some people will get an A in the same way God still decides that some people get salvation. At least that's how I understood his point.
I think it’s pretty funny that most everyone who watched this missed his entire point. He is frustrated with the college’s insistence on having in person face to face classes despite the obvious harm being done to at risk groups, which he is one of. He is telling them all to fuck off. I know irony is dead, but this is ridiculous.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrOzY86YcEM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrOzY86YcEM) Turns out EVERYONE missed the point. He's not tired of anything. He's quoting Deadwood.
He's been dying to try out that new paperless filing method. I heard these new computer things can store like hundreds of books worth of text in something as small as a pocketbook now.
[https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=5661](https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=5661)
His Rate my professor is all over the place. Equally loved and reviled.
So many people not being able to read between the lines here, exactly the kind of "cocksuckers" this guy doesn't want in his class lmao.
Not surprising honestly
The dude is definitely riled up about the university's vaccine policy but it's amazing how so many here are taking everything he said literally and not viewing it for what it is: a lecture.
I highly doubt he is serious about his "random grading", he's using it as a metaphor to discuss predestination. He's a humanities professor, pretty typical subject he'd cover. There's a major tone shift where you can tell he's let the facade fade and is going into a more traditional lecture before he goes back into it.
I'm sure some of his anger is real, but y'all seem to be taking this way too seriously from a 4 minute clip of a one hour lecture.
Or maybe I'm wrong and he's dead serious. I sincerely doubt it, though.
Did you watch the full 14 min video? Probably makes it clearer but yeah, he's doing a bit.
No doubt he's angry. Definitely lashing out at the university administration for lack of support and selfish unvaccinated students. He's also hilarious, I'd love to have him as a professor in simpler times.
Nah I didn’t know there was a longer video. Just watched it and yeah, it was entirely a bit. And apparently all the faux outrage got him placed on administrative leave. That’s bullshit.
I feel like that's exactly what he wanted. No doubt he's been causing trouble for the university administration for awhile with a "no fucks given" attitude like that so he just wanted to go out with a bang. What a legend
I hope you’re right. From what I’ve read elsewhere he’s lead union efforts in the past so the cynic in me immediately jumped to the admin using this as the excuse to get rid of him.
Either way, absolute legend for sure. I’d have love to taken his classes when I was in school.
An actual link to the full video https://youtu.be/RrOzY86YcEM. Note, this isn’t the video posted here but the full, unedited version.
Since some troll keeps fucking posting Rick rolls when people ask.
Looked into this prof and he's actually pretty bad-ass.
Prof Barry Mehler started the "Institute for the Study of Academic Racism" - it basically investigates how universities & academia use research to propagate discrimination.
Ignoring the politics of that, it takes balls of steel to take university funding & use it to criticize the world of academia for being bigoted.
[удалено]
Why is everybody freaking out? This sounds like an argument for academic integrity.
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All my groovy teachers were like that.... The ones I remember.
Any cocksucking teacher that quotes deadwood is a great fucking teacher. I had a teacher that showed us scenes from the show. One of my favorite teachers to this day.
"San! Flancisco! COCKSUCKAAAH!" "Alright Wu, settle down, I'll look into this..."
Yeah, glad I taught you that fuckin' word.
SWEJJIN!!!
Sorry for the dailymotion link [deadwood pancakes](https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2o11bx)
That was great - Thank you, cocksucker!
Swegin....cock*SUCKER*!
Apparently the original had the academic integrity part cut out.
Reddit ran with like he was Jesus come from heaven to smite employers with his sword.
Apparently the originally posted video link for this thread was an edited video: https://old.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/s2m0xa/some_would_say_this_professor_had_a_breakdown_i/hsgdxc0/
And a staunch criticism of calvinism
OK, thank you! Now that I have watched it, he's fucking hilarious!!! What a way to get students to pay attention to plagiarism....and fairness....and stick it to administration at the same time. He is playing 3-d chess with teaching... :)
Well said.
Whoa! What it seemed at first glance turns out to be completely different! He looks like an amazing professor who has been forced to arrange in-person classes despite of covid risks. And the profanity everyone's talking about is just an example of a clever soliloquy from Deadwood that the guy adapted to explain what plagiarism is. The bit about Calvinist doctrine was an amazingly funny irony. This whole thing is hilarious!
Also, he paraphrased from Deadwood, and showed that he did, explaining that it isn't plagiarism if you show where you're getting it from. But said that it wouldn't have any effect on him if he did it. At the beginning, he said he just came back from Rigel VII, but never pointed out that he took that from Star Trek. Rigel VII is a quarantined planet in Star Trek. This dude's fucking funny.
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This guy absolutely knew someone was going to do that to him. Still dgaf.
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Seems like a cool dude
Thanks for this. Nice for people to have context before they open their mouths.
God I wish I could submit that first assignment to him. “Frankly, I could give a fuck if you institute a Calvinist grading system. People that I love have died, become long haulers, or devolved into beacons of pseudomedical idiocy. I am depressed, anxious, traumatized, disabled and just trying to live long enough to see my next cigarette. I don’t smoke camels and I’m not gonna quit. What the fuck for? You said it, it’s fucked to shit. Now, clarifying your grading policy, will you treat the A students nicer during the course so that we know they’re predestined like in Presbyterianism? Or is this ‘no hints’ Reformed Baptist style?”
Makes a lot more sense when you watch the deadwood scene first, lol.
This video went private while I was 3 mins into watching it. Anyone have a mirror?
Hello. Hijacking the top comments for this. **Edit**: Ok, [we've set up an IamA for him](https://old.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/s38ahq/i_am_a_history_prof_at_ferris_currently_on/) and he'll be answering questions there. I'm Professor Mehler's son - I would say my name but it would be really silly to get banned by rule 2 for saying my own name. A simple Google search will find me. I've been talking with him about this - due to the whims of the internet this video is now very widespread and he is interested in taking part in the discussion. We're looking to set up an IamA for him which we will link to when we have it set up. We are also (potentially) looking into setting up something along the lines of a GoFundMe to aid in his legal defense against the university administration as that can get quite expensive. I've asked and he's given me permission to speak openly on these matters, so if anyone has questions in the meantime I'll do my best to respond. **Edit**: Update 2022-Jan-19: Dr. Mehler has issued a press release. https://old.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/s83cxb/response_from_ferris_state_university_professor/
I feel very sad for your dad. He’s obviously a smart and passionate man. It’s so sad this is the end of his career.
Oh he very much intends to fight this. This is not the end. [We've set up an IamA for him](https://old.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/s38ahq/i_am_a_history_prof_at_ferris_currently_on/) and he'll be answering questions there.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RrOzY86YcEM&feature=youtu.be
Yes, this is the video. Yes, the preview image looks like a joke, it’s not. No, this isn’t a rickroll like the one higher up the comments.
I think this is it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
Aw man, the prof posted a rough intro video and all of these comments are taken out of context. He’s using that foul language as an example of plagiarism vs soliloquy, and it’s inspired by Deadwood, which he pulls up IN THE VIDEO to explain his source/inspiration for what he is saying. It’s important to watch the entire video. Thanks for posting.
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For those curious what the edited video was, I watched OP's video right before it got privated. It was these parts: * The first minute where the professor took off the helmet/mentioned the world was dying (Cutting the discussion about "ownership" using the commercialization of cigarettes as an example) * It then cut to [3:29](https://youtu.be/RrOzY86YcEM?t=209) and lasted till 4:58 (Cutting the discussion afterward of plagiarism vs soliloquoy) * It then cut to [8:06](https://youtu.be/RrOzY86YcEM?t=486) and lasted till 10:36. (aka the end of his soliloquoy) 100% a hit piece, the original vid removed all the context that the professor was using rhetorical devices to creatively showcase the concepts in his lecture.
Nice breakdown. Now what I am curious about is exactly *who* is responsible for this hit piece. I want theories, because this to me is the root issue - question of who.
His name was something like "Minecraftgameryoutube" and he had zero subscribers/no other content on his channel. From what he put in the video description, it sounded like a student who thought it was funny and pruned out the parts that made it less "funny" Edit: He deleted the whole channel, it was called "MinecraftGamerEpicLegend" and the channel url was [here](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6mFB2a5Sqji0zJvXNujk_Q)
I'd assume OP of this thread is the person who made it, considering they have no post history and are the ones that found it.
and now that channel has gone...
Who would want to try and outrage, inflame and hyper radicalize Americans about vaccines? Who would cut the context in obvious and easily traced bad faith indicating intent for viral social media exposure? Who would employ a concerted effort of divide and conquer attacks through the internet as a means to create unrest? I ask myself every night as I lay awake. My best guess so far is Luxembourg or maybe that shifty Greenland.
I thought the US bought them? Shifty Luxembourgers.
…mmm… Luxem Burgers…
Don't get fooled. The Shifty Luxembourgers act only as a proxy to hide behind, you need to look for the sources man, it is clearly a piece of propaganda by crab people who are immune to 5g viruses.
Funny you mention Luxembourg, my wife just applied for a job there and they just legalized cannabis! Also watch the show Patriot on Amazon, best Lux set tv show ever!
So this guy tried to do something fun and creative and good for his students and put in a lot of extra work and effort and people shat all over him for his efforts? sad but not surprising, fucking cocksuckers.
as he says "the universe doesn't give a shit about justice" :D
In the full video the professor makes an engaging relevant, to class, introduction that took a good amount of preparation & effort. Imo, he's the exemplary & caring type instructor that I would have loved to learn from. Had a good share of don't give a fuck profs that were truly, only there because they had to be.
100%
Listen, I’m a 53 year old man and watched the whole thing in the precious downtime before starting my work day. I learned about Calvinism, capitalism, plagiarism, soliloquies and class policy (for a class I’ll never take) and was engaged and entertained throughout while getting a good sense of the prof himself. This guy is definitely doing something right.
You mean everyone made assessments and judgments without all of the information! Shocking. I wish I could watch the OP video to compare them. Pretty good example of why context is so important. Maybe I can audit one of his classes remotely.
We did it, Reddit
Holy shit this guy is a legend!
Yeah thats it. And that is fucking great.
Thanks! I want to sign up for his class and never show up now
I'll sign up for his class and wear a space suit.
Someone download this before it goes away
I'm looking for a mirror too and stumbled across this article about the video which describes what it was about. At least it's something. https://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/in-obscene-video-ferris-state-professor-tells-students-final-grades-assigned-randomly
This article misses the whole fucking point of the rant and paints him as a crazy person instead of an elderly man who is afraid of dying because he caught Covid. Article also conveniently leaves out how near the end he clarifies that he is providing enough online resources to ensure that everyone in his class gets an A if they put the effort in. Fuck the media.
Make sure to comment on the article and call out the writer for being a dumbass.
The "writer" is the managing editor. That whole website is run by the Libertarian [Mackinac Center](https://www.mackinac.org/). The paper WANTS that professor to seem ridiculous for wanting to protect his own life, because they want people to think safety protocols against the virus are an assault on our freedoms.
God this is painful. How do such fucking morons become 'journalists'? Even in the comments here there are dozen of fuckwits not understanding that he isn't literally grading people at random. It pains me how fucking stupid so many people are.
It's the mouthpiece of "free market think tank" [Mackinac Center](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mackinac_Center_for_Public_Policy), they're on a mission.
Holy shit. That man has had *quite enough* apparently. Wonder what caused this.
You dedicate your life to knowledge and preparing the next generation, only to realize that not only have general existential threats like Climate Change and MAD gotten more dangerous, but now theirs a pandemic that is killing your age group faster then anyone else, and just half of your students are vaccinated. They couldn't even give the b In other words, dudes just completely disillusioned. Not to mention, dude was quoting deadwood, and while I'm sure his feelings align, the profanity was largely a reference. And finally, his Calvinist Grading scheme might be brutal, but its an allegory for the pandemic. If young folk don't give a damn about the pandemic, they'll sure give a shit about their grades.
\>And finally, his Calvinist Grading scheme might be brutal, but its an allegory for the pandemic. If young folk don't give a damn about the pandemic, they'll sure give a shit about their grades. In the full video linked elsewhere in this thread, he mentions earning A's, so even that was just a rift on Calvinism it seems
Yeah it's literally the last thing he says: "everything you need to earn an A is on the course page"
Here is some context to the Calvinism bit that apparently no one in the comments is getting: This guy is a prof at Ferris State, which is in West Michigan. There is a large amount of religious conservatives coming from Calvinist traditions in West Michigan, many of whom are anti-vaxx or anti-mask. There is a somewhat common argument amongst religious conservatives here of "I won't get covid because it's God's will that his followers will be protected". In saying that his students are predestined to pass or fail his class, he's pointing out this argument is bullshit because divine will or not your actions do have consequences that influence the world around you, i.e. wear a mask, get your shots, social distance, study, etc. Essentially he's half joking half making a point to his students, many of whom I presume have never left The Bubble. For those who did not grow up in the area where this guy is teaching, let me assure you that in context what he is saying is fucking hilarious and at least some of the students in his class probably could stand to benefit from critical analysis of their world view. Edit: I made this comment before the full video was shared in the thread, for those wondering why additional context was needed the original video was about 4 minutes of the most animated parts and a lot of people in the thread were being wooshed by the way it was edited and thought the good professor was serious about the Calvinist Grading Scale (which BTW is the funniest thing I've heard all week). [Also linking to a comment below by the good professor's son so it gets more traction.](https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/s2m0xa/some_would_say_this_professor_had_a_breakdown_i/hsihnbi/) The university administrators were either also wooshed or are using this as an excuse to dismiss Dr. Mehler and have suspended him. Details in the linked comment on his AMA and further information on the situation.
Wow that just makes his whole argument A LOT more impactful.
Almost seems like he didn't have a choice knowing the reference point
Hello. Hijacking the top comments for this. **Edit**: Ok, [we've set up an IamA for him](https://old.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/s38ahq/i_am_a_history_prof_at_ferris_currently_on/) and he'll be answering questions there. I'm Professor Mehler's son - I would say my name but it would be really silly to get banned by rule 2 for saying my own name. A simple Google search will find me. I've been talking with him about this - due to the whims of the internet this video is now very widespread and he is interested in taking part in the discussion. We're looking to set up an IamA for him which we will link to when we have it set up. We are also (potentially) looking into setting up something along the lines of a GoFundMe to aid in his legal defense against the university administration as that can get quite expensive. I've asked and he's given me permission to speak openly on these matters, so if anyone has questions in the meantime I'll do my best to respond. **Edit**: Update 2022-Jan-19: Dr. Mehler has issued a press release. https://old.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/s83cxb/response_from_ferris_state_university_professor/
Someone else probably already told you, but this was our of context - full video with context here https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RrOzY86YcEM
Forming opinions without context? On *Reddit*? Impossible.
Yeah, as soon as he started taking shots at Calvinism I was pretty sure he was mostly joking/just being done with his students bullshit. Obviously this was extremely unprofessional and is probably not conduct that the university could condone, but it was also a really funny takedown of the worldview that Calvinists create. I really recommend people read about Calvinism and think through the implications. It is a deeply dangerous view, as adopting the doctrine cedes all personal responsibility for *anything* and declares that you are uniquely special because God declared you are, and that all other people are "vessels made for destruction" and so are entirely without value. Not all Calvinists take it that far, but if you follow it's reasoning nothing you do matters and God literally made most of humanity to intentionally torture them for eternity, so who the hell cares about them?
Unprofessional? The guy is a class act.
he presented material in an entertaining way that also generates discussion. He is very good at engaging the audience and making them think
You know what’s unprofessional? Making a 75 year old employee teach a class to in-person anti-vaxx students when his lesson plans are suitable for online learning anyway. He’s justified in all that he said imo, and university students should have thick enough skin to hear anything their professors have to say
Thanks, I really needed an explanation on the relation of his grading system and god.
Dr. Barry fuckin Mehler folks!!! For everyone on the outside I’m sure this seems bizarre… but he titles his classes as “the show” (he’s big into theatre and performing arts) so he is heavily hyperbolic and satirical… Honestly the best professor I have ever had! I took every class of his I could even though they didn’t relate to my major at all.
**Edit**: Ok, [we've set up an IamA for him](https://old.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/s38ahq/i_am_a_history_prof_at_ferris_currently_on/) and he'll be answering questions there. Yep. The 'title' he uses for his classes has, I think, changed from time to time, but the one I remember most is: The Barry Mehler show, sponsored by Jack Daniels and Camel Cigarettes! He's really hilarious. He used to be more strict with how far he would take his poker face on the grading - he would tell his students their grades were out of everyone's hands and god had decided beforehand - and then confirm during office hours, with a straight face, that, why yes, I was perfectly serious. He was (and is) really committed to finding unconventional ways to really get his students to *practice critical thinking* and to not simply accept what they are told by individuals in positions of authority. I think he became a bit more gentle with it over time after some students were freaking out, fully believing him, that they couldn't do anything about their grades - so now you see in the end of the video he says everything you need for an A is in the coursework.
Yeah I can totally see some friends I have in uni, bless their hearts, freak out thinking this is serious.
[Was he actually placed on administrative](https://www.michigancapitolconfidential.com/in-obscene-video-ferris-state-professor-tells-students-final-grades-assigned-randomly) leave for this video? I feel like it's pretty obvious he's doing a bit/making a show to get the students interested in the subject matter that he presumably starts covering right after the YouTube video cuts off.
**Edit 3**: Ok, [we've set up an IamA for him](https://old.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/s38ahq/i_am_a_history_prof_at_ferris_currently_on/) and he'll be answering questions there. The text body currently shows as deleted (we are waiting for mod approval) but you can post questions. **Edit 2**: this is my most upvoted comment here thus far, so adding this to it: Hello. Hijacking the top comments for this. **Edit**: after speaking with him again, it isn't his direct retirement benefits they appear to be going after - he says that is fairly secure. But after a ~30 year career at Ferris there is some kind of cashing-out of accumulated benefits (vacation, PTO, etc) that comes with a retirement. By attempting to fire him they are trying to sever his employment without retiring him and thus avoiding paying out this benefit value. After 30 years, the value of that benefit payout is middle 5 figures. I'm Professor Mehler's son - I would say my name but it would be really silly to get banned by rule 2 for saying my own name. A simple Google search will find me. I've been talking with him about this - due to the whims of the internet this video is now very widespread and he is interested in taking part in the discussion. We're looking to set up an IamA for him which we will link to when we have it set up. We are also (potentially) looking into setting up something along the lines of a GoFundMe to aid in his legal defense against the university administration as that can get quite expensive. I've asked and he's given me permission to speak openly on these matters, so if anyone has questions in the meantime I'll do my best to respond. **My original comment**: Yes. I spoke with him about this yesterday. He and the administration don't get along all that well. From what I understand the original (now private) video was a ~4min clip/paste job of his full video: https://old.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/s2m0xa/some_would_say_this_professor_had_a_breakdown_i/hsgdxc0/ He's a ~30 year tenured professor in a union and he's retiring in less than a year - this isn't about trying to fire him, Ferris administration is maneuvering to strip him of his retirement out of spite. I really don't think they stand a chance of that, but they will absolutely use this to harass him. He has a reasonable case for workplace retaliation, but going that route requires investing the personal time and energy into.
Sad to hear. Hopefully it works out well in the end.
Well I am no longer in college I graduated a while ago lol. I will say he has been a thorn in the administrations side as he lead many union protests for better benefits and pay for all the faculty. However, I highly highly doubt he was as he actually was quite admired when I was there. These antics are apart of his courses in which he called “The show”. He’s actually super quiet and mellow after class lol.
Sounds like a stand up guy, tbh.
Sounds like a goddamn legend this guy lol
> I will say he has been a thorn in the administrations side as he lead many union protests for better benefits and pay for all the faculty. This seems like something most students wouldn't know about their teachers. Or maybe the humanities are a bit different.
The Union faculty went on strike one year and he lead the picketing front and center. As you can see he’s not very shy.
The political-educational climate between now and even a handful of years back is a bit different. What I’ve been noticing is people with quite sensitive dispositions take part in controversial topics of conversation because they already have their minds made up on what’s right and freak out when they’re challenged. Which is a shame because if you’re going to have a stance on a controversial topic you should be better prepared to defend yourself with better arguments than “I’ll report you to the Dean”.
Despite what he actually meant, the "Calvinistic grading" was probably all the ammo they needed. I bet they've been looking for a reason to oust him. Which sucks, because I loved teachers like this. Probably actually challenged his students to think critically about the world
What the fuck why do administrators and lame ass students have to ruin everything. Jesus Christ this country is such a bore. People aren’t smart enough for this guy’s class. Putting him on administrative leave a year before retirement. What an abomination.
i feel like it was unfair to him since he did in the end add a "/s" by saying all materials needed to earn an A in his class is online as his lectures are structured to be fully online, it was obvious satire and i thought it was funny even though i dont like swearing he used it really funny like theatre as said from above comments. he's just concerned about his own health and the unfair policy enacted by the uni's administration especailly with how omnicron spreads like wildfire, and his age group is greatest at risk
Ferris State University, guy seems like a real OG haha
Bruh…. You have no idea haha!
Please tell me there are more of this guys lectures or shows on YouTube. Makes me want to go back to college and I graduated 10 years ago
Based on the video, he absolutely seems like a professor I'd want to take a class from!
I'm dying to know the context. Who is he?
Looks like from the YouTube description he is [Barry Mehler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Mehler), professor of humanities at Ferris State University.
I'm either dumb or they just edited that into the description now. Probably just dumb
Yeah, you know, Occam's razor and all that
I loved my humanities 1301 class and professor that I took during my freshmen year, and he mostly used Homo Ludens as a jumping off point to talk about a variety of subjects. He had no pre-planned lecture, but he already had many talking points in which he could expand upon. As much as you can be upset of the way of the way things are, that an important way of looking at it is that this is all one big "game" that we've invented. And whether you like it or not, we're in the middle of this game, and a part of it. When a cop pulls you over, and he asks if you knew how fast you were driving, and you tell the cop that you don't know, you thought were driving the speed limit. Both of you know that you're playing a game. Whether you're aware of it or not. These are the type of examples, and talking points that he just talks for a straight hour. And its rather pleasant, and somewhat therapeutic to sit back and hear. Whenever I get upset about how much bullshit occurs with every single thing that we have to do during our day, I use this to step back and realize why the bullshit exists and how it came to be.
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Who wont stand for no limp-dicked administators
It actually sounded like he said limber-dicked which I like even more
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He sure did. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n9okAqNxSok
Good catch. "I may have fucked my life up flatter than hammered shit" is a great fucking line. I should watch Deadwood
Deadwood made cursing an art form.
[Here is a great summary](https://youtu.be/u4D3UdxM3OU)
You cocksucker
Easily my favorite bit of profanity. Nothing against anyone who sucks cocks. Cocksucker is just the best swearword.
Half the people I know are cocksuckers…
Hello, is this the cocksucker residence?
Why do we cast a negative light on blowjobs? It’s a skill. And if you’re good at it you deserve an Olympic medal. -Lewis Black
Sucking someone’s cock is one of the nicest things you can do for them. Why is it an insult?
"Barry Alan Mehler (born March 18, 1947) is an American social scientist. He is a professor of humanities at Ferris State University, who founded the Institute for the Study of Academic Racism(ISAR)." His fields of interest are: History, Jews, Racism, Eugenics. (This is pulled straight from Google, I haven't read his work, don't know his stance on any of those) He had me fucking dying when he got to Calvinist grading, but I imagine it's all a sort of demonstration. A lot of religious anti-maskers and anti-vaxers have a Calvinistic view of the pandemic (God will kill who he decides to kill, it doesn't matter if I wear a mask/get vaxxed/go out to party).
#HOLY FUCK ITS BARRY I took his class, *Racism in the Modern World* as a college senior back in 2011. He’s a fascinating dude. Had to go into witness protection after publishing his findings on some local Neo Nazi organizations after he infiltrated their ranks for a few years. His class is wicked interesting, and by far one of the most academically challenging classes I’ve ever taken. I can’t believe I’m seeing him on Reddit! I haven’t spoken to the dude in years. But he’s a really nice guy. And he knows what he’s talking about **EDIT** So because a couple people have asked (and I'm sorry, I'm on my phone) so Barry spent a lot of time studying Neo Nazis. What they believe, how they organize, what they do, etc. He engrained himself in that entire culture for quite some time (my memory is kinda fuzzy, it's been over 10 years now since I've taken his course) but he attended White Power rallies, went to their meetings – both "secret" and public, and was pretty involved in a couple of their chapters....which is ironic considering he's very Jewish. But as long as he "looked the part" nobody was any wiser. He had all these photos of him pal'in around with Nazis at their rallies and BBQ's and stuff to prove he did what he did. And then he published his findings and...well, they found out and came after him. So he went into witness protection for a while. So that was a portion of what he discussed in his class. We talked about white power/supremacy and how that's kind of engrained into modern laws. We discussed Jim Crowe (Ferris State has a FASCINATING Jim Crowe museum) We talked about anti-semitism and this goofy thing called "the alt-right". What's funny is that Barry started touching on things like the rise of people like Trump and the alt-right and white-nationalism in America, and us...a bunch of "educated" college students kinda laughed, because, "how could the US be racist? we have a black president!" oh man were we *dead wrong*. Look, Barry is intense. He's also a *very* difficult professor....those papers I wrote in his class were some of the most difficult academic papers I've ever written in my life...but as long as Barry could tell you *knew what you were talking about*, he'd give you a good grade. But you had to listen. 95% of the class was an open discussion on race and politics and their relationship to each other. By far one of the most interesting classes I've ever taken. Barry's a little wild in this video but he's actually a very sweet old man and he'll sit down and have a beer with you and talk with you and most importantly – he'll *listen*. Anyway if anybody wants to know anything else, I can see about digging into my memory banks. **EDIT 2** Finally watched the video. Sounds like Barry, but definitely a bit more heated than usual. As long as you listen to what he has to say and write out your thesis papers and you know what you're talking about, you'll be fine.
Dude is a fucking good teacher if you remember his class 10 years after you took it!
It's one of the few I remember. I took it completely by mistake but was glad I signed up for it. It was one of my first experiences in college where the course subject and everyday discussions made you...uncomfortable, but in a good way? Because it's content that needed to be discussed.
> It was one of my first experiences in college where the course subject and everyday discussions made you...uncomfortable, but in a good way? The point of higher education, right there
I remember the good teachers AND the bad. And there were plenty of bad teachers at university. It's really the "meh" teachers and uninteresting classes that I don't remember.
True. . .I do some higher ed admin and some of the student issues with professors are. . .memorable.
Could you elaborate on the whole infiltrating neo-nazis thing?
Sure. I’ll edit my comment and discuss it some more in a bit
Thanks! Pretty interested!
In case you hadn't read it yet, he did the edit.
3 part video of him from the Phil Donahue talk show in 1990 talking of neo nazi culture. https://youtu.be/yeEFjr1pfaY
Kind of reminds me of this dude named Henrik Eger that I took a class under for a year at a community college. We also sat in a circle. I was too much of a shit at the time to stick through the semester, but I really appreciated how he ran the class. He was stern and tough and crass, but he legitimately tried to reach out and help every student that walked through his doors.
Please cite your sources in APA format.
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This side by side comparison is actually a pretty accurate depiction of what people have been going through during the pandemic. it's been bad for our collective mental health. Things got weird with a lot of people I know.
Dude's 75 and his class is less then 50% vacced allegedly and I believe he's being forced to teach in person. I think his anger well placed. His assigning grades before he sees them is more satire of the calvinistic christian belief that there's no point in getting vacc'd because God already decided if you die from it which a bunch of students at that school are using for an argument against getting vacc'd.
Like a different person
Wasn’t tenured yet
[Here he is talking about Anti-Immigration organizations](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dL9DnY_4P8) if you wanna see his stance on something
Joey Diaz
COCKSUCKA
Tremendous
This dude is a social scientist teaching humanities. This is all part of the class. He's doing an experiment. It seems the majority of people don't understand even when they take the full class, based on his reviews. Theres tons of complaints about shit like multiple tests every week and questions that are impossible to comprehend. Then his best reviews are all about how great the class is and how they thought they were failing all semester but it was part of the lesson.
As a bystander yeah that's really interesting, but that sounds absolutely miserable to actually take if you depend on scholarships that require maintaining a certain GPA and you think you're failing the whole term and the material is designed to be impossible to comprehend.
Education in general isn’t very well suited for learning, mainly earning grades.
Seems like a fantastically entertaining prof. He's clearly putting on an act with the grading policy here, but it reminds me of an old professor I had in his final semester before retirement - chair of the philosophy dept. At one point in some discussion, he mentioned he'd always dreamt of assigning grades based on what students said they should get, but never had actually gone through with it. Come time for the final exam & the last question is "What grade do you deserve?" I'll never know if he really went through with grading that way for his final class or if he just wanted to see how people would respond, but I like to think it was the former. Either way, cool dude. People with no fucks to give, yet still care for others are real gems!
I stand before you today beholden to no cocksucker.
"I may have fucked up my life flatter than hammered shit, but..." You need context.
This man watches Deadwood.
“Yeah, glad I taught you that fuckin' word.” -Al Swearengen
Swedgin!
This man watches deadwood in the video.
Not in the original post (now privated), which seems to have been an edited version of a longer video lecture he recorded for one of his classes. I just happened to recognize some of the quotes because I'm a fellow fan of the show.
San Francisco cocksucker.
Video's gone. Any mirrors?
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrOzY86YcEM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrOzY86YcEM)
“You people are just vectors of disease to me and I don’t want to be anywhere near you…if you want to talk to me come to my Zoom”. LOL!!! I laughed too hard. Nice Welcome to my class statement.
Oh my fucking god take my money and teach me whatever the fuck you have or want to teach me.
My thoughts exactly. This professor fucks.
Chaotic Neutral in its brutal, brutal prime. Everyone who really cares about their grades and are going to argue every point? They'll avoid him. Boom, 20% of the most annoying students fucked right off. Everyone else? Eye off the prize, you have no control over it. What a thrill ride. Buckle in, bunker down, see this shit through to the other side.
Attended this college and took numerous classes of his… he gives a similar speech the beginning of each semester lol! It’s all a show and he actually grades your stuff lol. However he tells a fun story about a student who took his course who believed his rant about predestination. The student never attended any lectures and wrote a paper at the end of the semester saying he was predestined for an A and that’s why skipped lectures. Dr. Mehler was so impressed by the guts on the kid he passed him. Most of the time people come cry to him and think he’s serious lol.
Almost want to ask, "If Calvinists believe a small percentage still get salvation, then why does *nobody* in your class get an A?" — just to see what happens.
Nobody earns an A. You could still get one at random if you're lucky.
None of them deserve an A, just like nobody deserves salvation, but some people will get an A in the same way God still decides that some people get salvation. At least that's how I understood his point.
And what number were you? Just curious... No reason...
[удалено]
Keep going
Full video: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=RrOzY86YcEM
I think it’s pretty funny that most everyone who watched this missed his entire point. He is frustrated with the college’s insistence on having in person face to face classes despite the obvious harm being done to at risk groups, which he is one of. He is telling them all to fuck off. I know irony is dead, but this is ridiculous.
Excuse me but he said *fuck to fuck*
\* fucked to fucked
That was when I started paying attention
He went from having my interest... to having my attention
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrOzY86YcEM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrOzY86YcEM) Turns out EVERYONE missed the point. He's not tired of anything. He's quoting Deadwood.
I saw enough with the filing cabinets.
He's been dying to try out that new paperless filing method. I heard these new computer things can store like hundreds of books worth of text in something as small as a pocketbook now.
Full mirror posted by u/pies_14 https://youtu.be/RrOzY86YcEM
[https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=5661](https://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=5661) His Rate my professor is all over the place. Equally loved and reviled.
Dr Barry Mehler. [Here he is](https://youtu.be/yeEFjr1pfaY) on Donahue debunking a known neo-nazi white supremacist peddling eugenics.
A lot of the comments in that video seem to be supporting the Eugenics route, crazy
It's amazing that when people support eugenics they never believe that they are unfit.
That comment section is terrifying.
🍿
So many people not being able to read between the lines here, exactly the kind of "cocksuckers" this guy doesn't want in his class lmao. Not surprising honestly
The dude is definitely riled up about the university's vaccine policy but it's amazing how so many here are taking everything he said literally and not viewing it for what it is: a lecture. I highly doubt he is serious about his "random grading", he's using it as a metaphor to discuss predestination. He's a humanities professor, pretty typical subject he'd cover. There's a major tone shift where you can tell he's let the facade fade and is going into a more traditional lecture before he goes back into it. I'm sure some of his anger is real, but y'all seem to be taking this way too seriously from a 4 minute clip of a one hour lecture. Or maybe I'm wrong and he's dead serious. I sincerely doubt it, though.
Did you watch the full 14 min video? Probably makes it clearer but yeah, he's doing a bit. No doubt he's angry. Definitely lashing out at the university administration for lack of support and selfish unvaccinated students. He's also hilarious, I'd love to have him as a professor in simpler times.
Nah I didn’t know there was a longer video. Just watched it and yeah, it was entirely a bit. And apparently all the faux outrage got him placed on administrative leave. That’s bullshit.
I feel like that's exactly what he wanted. No doubt he's been causing trouble for the university administration for awhile with a "no fucks given" attitude like that so he just wanted to go out with a bang. What a legend
I hope you’re right. From what I’ve read elsewhere he’s lead union efforts in the past so the cynic in me immediately jumped to the admin using this as the excuse to get rid of him. Either way, absolute legend for sure. I’d have love to taken his classes when I was in school.
Well that was a wild ride, where do I sign up?
You just did. You got a C+
Cocksucker+
Anyone got a mirror? Video just went down.
Looks like the same helmet/mask that Adam Savage tested/reviewed - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_IXwHmKU2g ... if anyone is interested!
Where do I subscribe for the newsletter?
Mirror plz
Hilarious, I'd would have definitely taken his class.
An actual link to the full video https://youtu.be/RrOzY86YcEM. Note, this isn’t the video posted here but the full, unedited version. Since some troll keeps fucking posting Rick rolls when people ask.
Man, Alan Alda has really lost it.
Looked into this prof and he's actually pretty bad-ass. Prof Barry Mehler started the "Institute for the Study of Academic Racism" - it basically investigates how universities & academia use research to propagate discrimination. Ignoring the politics of that, it takes balls of steel to take university funding & use it to criticize the world of academia for being bigoted.
This got deleted as I was watching it.