Dalhousie Events Spur Mind Control Research

It is with alarm -- tinged, admittedly, with an element of gratification -- that I have just learned that this series of letters was recently referenced in a public newsgroup discussion on the Internet. It appears that the archives of these letters are being explored by some malignant professor out there as the basis for research into more effective methodologies for mind control in the classroom.

Let me make my position very clear. The archives are not intended to support such research, and I do not condone mind control, thought policing, or idea suppression in any way, shape or form.

On the other hand, it must be conceded that there is no such thing as bad publicity.

I provide the public post here for your contemplation:

Newsgroups: humanities.lit.authors.shakespeare
Sent: Friday, August 24, 2001 6:10 PM
Subject: Policing Shakespeare Discussion

Is anyone familiar with effective methodologies for avoiding the discussion of incorrect views or interpretations of Shakespeare in the classroom?

The problem is that, even when a particular reading has excellent critical support, students occasionally try to take up class time by questioning the reading or raising an alternative way of understanding the text.

One approach for maintaining classroom order is described at http://urielw.com/shake/3.htm, but in practice it has turned out to be less than ideal, since recalcitrant students can still cause distractions for their classmates with questions or comments that divert from the correct view. I would appreciate any advice on how to deal with this problem, in case you've hit on a good way to avoid wasting time with dead-end discussions and debates in your classroom.