Princeton Professor Robert George
My philosophy of teaching is straightforward and rather simple: My job is not to tell students what to think or induce or encourage them to think as I do; it is, rather, to help students to think more deeply, more critically, and for themselves. What I ask of students is open-mindedness, tolerance of those whose opinions differ from yours, a willingness not only to challenge others but to be challenged in turn, and a genuine and deep desire to learn–and to learn by seriously engaging authors and fellow students whose ideas differ, even radically differ, from your own.
There is never a bad time to study and think hard about the meaning of the Constitution and its guarantees; but this is an especially good time–indeed, an exciting time. We are in the midst of massive national disagreements about issues having to do with the separation of powers, federalism, freedom of speech, the free exercise of religion, due process of law, the equal protection of the laws, and more. In my opinion, though it need not be yours, some of these disagreements do not admit of obvious or straightforward answers, no matter how deeply certain partisans on the competing sides are of the righteousness of their causes. In any case, I hope that our deliberations together will enable us all to be better, more constructive participants in the debates, no matter where we come down in them.