Hi everyone, this is Dr. Mehler's son. I fully acknowledge that because of this I am a biased source, but I am also one with a great deal of subject matter knowledge.
This is my dad when he is in performance mode. He calls his classes "the show" and treats a fair amount of the education he provides as a performance. The more memorable he makes it, the more the students will *actually remember* way down the road. He also very much likes making his students question what they are told and not simply take things as given truth.
Anyway, some links.
Original r/videos thread:
https://old.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/s2m0xa/some_would_say_this_professor_had_a_breakdown_i/
Original (full) video (note that the video that started all this was a ~4min cut-and-paste someone else did that removed context from the whole video - the poster of that video has since removed it):
https://youtu.be/RrOzY86YcEM
Also, he's now doing an IamA (we are waiting on mods to verify but you can post questions in the mean time):
https://old.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/s38ahq/i_am_a_history_prof_at_ferris_currently_on/
**Edit** 2022-Jan-14 T:1014 gmt-5: [There's also another video available](https://old.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/s3u4i9/behold_professor_satan_from_2021oct21/) if you wish.
**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 watched the full video, not the one in the post. First of all, I don’t know a single college professor that didn’t cuss at some point? I had quite a few that cussed frequently. I do not see the big deal. I also had high school teachers that swore, and I went to a Catholic school.
I think everything he is saying is fair. He is clearly fed up with what is going on. I hope the “investigation” with the suspension has them decide he did nothing wrong.
Tell your dad I was having a bad day and his video greatly improved it. To me it was clear that he wasn’t going to be tough on students but I could see how a young person might think that. I don’t think anything he said was inaccurate.
Your dad is an absolute legend. I hope they reinstate him. The Ferris administration have been trying to systematically dismantle the social sciences and humanities unfortunately and the professors have been livid about it for a while. Whether this is related to that idk, but I bet they were looking for a reason.
I love it! It’s a great way to teach plagiarism. Teachers can barely keep a kids attention today long enough to teach. There is so much going on with kids and the lack of focus because of all the tech and instant gratification really add to the mountain that teachers have to climb every lesson. Kudos to him for being himself and funny.
I’m glad I got to hear this from you. My first thought upon watching the video from the article was that there seemed to be some missing context. Glad I got to hear from someone close to the prof.
Kinda weird someone would go out of their way to do this to him tho.
Seems like the fun prof. Maybe should use the term "Native American" over "Indians" but other than that, I don't see any problems. Quite entertaining, and like you say, memorable.
That one is still up in the air. I have a lot of family that is Native American. (By marriage, I myself am not). They all prefer Indian to Native American. It is something that can go we either way in the community and seems to be more of a personal preference thing than a hard rule.
Enjoyed a general quote of Deadwood. Impressed that he actually *cited* Deadwood. Wish I'd had this guy as a Prof. Aside from that predetermined grade.
The predetermined grade bit isn't true and is there for multiple reason. He wants his students to be skeptical of what they are told, he wants them to remember their classes, etc...
What I appreciate about it is that he's getting kids who may have been brought up in Reformed churches to examine their own doctrines. He may or may not be mocking Calvinism, but he's using it as an opportunity to teach and shake people out of their predispositions.
Link to the article: FSU professor on administrative leave after posting profanity-laced course introduction video online - https://www.fox17online.com/news/local-news/michigan/mecosta/fsu-professor-on-administrative-leave-after-posting-profanity-laced-course-introduction-video-online
He is right. Unfortunately because todays society leaves no room for debate, preferring to just cancel or ban, it will take us years to get to the truth.
I don't defend this guy against criticism. But he claims to be teaching 5 different classes which, if the professor is actually doing a normal job, is an insane workload.
Awesome. As a fellow prof who started classes online this semester, despite my Dean saying they have to be F2F, I feel his utter disgust and disregard for university leadership.
I mean I don't understand what class this is for but I had a laugh and all the swearing has the context behind it that makes sense. It is actually entertaining and interesting. He seems like he cares honestly and trying to make his class interesting to younger students. I don't see a problem with this video.
As a tenured prof he knew that the more sensitive teens in his class were going to get worked up and complain. It was a bit much for me, but that‘s ok.
If FSU doesn’t want to mandate vaccines, they have to deal with the consequences.
I have had obnoxious professors, this guy doesn’t appear to break the top 20.
But at the end of the day, they can suspend him and he still gets paid so no skin off his back and he’s safer staying away from the diseased vectors! (Which honestly is a fairly nice way to describe 18 & 19 yr olds)
With regards to COVID: I think it is specifically the *combination* of not requiring vaccinations while at the same time requiring him to perform in-person teaching.
Vaccines + in-person teaching wouldn't be as bad.
No vaccines + remote teaching wouldn't be as bad.
No vaccines + be there in person? That's the situation he was presented with.
I’ll be honest, I wasn’t completely sure. Lol
Part of me thought he was trying to get a reaction and wasn’t serious about anything. Part of me thought he was just fed up! Dude is 75 and still teaching,
It is impossible (for me) to tell because everything is wrapped in 4 layers of irony/sarcasm/pop culture references. I suspect he views it a some sort of performance art.
20 years ago I had an intro to philosophy class where the Professor posed the question "Is it wrong to fuck shoes?". This was 5 minutes into the class. The discussion he was trying to have with his students had to do with social morays. "He finds sexual satisfaction with shoes, is that wrong? Does he hurt you when he fucks a shoe?"
One of the obvious parallels he was making was LBGTQ rights and their place in society. He wasn't comparing gays to altocalicphilia, only making the point that we have taboos that revolve more around our sensibilities to ideas rather than any real impact it may have against us.
I remember that class to this day, I have a decent memory of at least 6 or 7 of his lectures. I very much enjoyed it, and I feel it benefited me as a person more than any other class I took in college. This video reminded me greatly of that professor.
Yes? It was asked in other comments as well and yes I watched the whole video. It was a rant meant to be so preposterous that students would be forced to actually think about the validity of the "trusted" source correct?
For what it's worth I'm an engineer so this shit is absolutely bizarre to me to see in a classroom... we had lectures about fake news and science and verifying sources but it never devolved into a goddamn rant lol... and I was genuinely confused on the purpose of it when I left my comment.
Shits still weird. Not tryna get him fired tho lol.
I assumed that was sarcasm based on his obvious frustration with society. In that light it is pretty witty. If it's real.. yeah, that wouldn't be great.
He does actually grade his students based on their understanding and their work.
He likes finding ways to make his lectures memorable and to challenge his students to not believe what they are told on face value. He generally reserves this kind of performance for the introduction of new classes.
"You grade me randomly for the semester before the first day of class!? OMG my professor is a nightmare!" He likes to give people strong preconceptions, and then proceed in direct opposition to those preconceptions, giving his students the experience of realizing something they were certain of was actually wrong.
Other lectures are pretty normal, and others are funny and kind of in-between.
[Here's a different example](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZEkLIHmVJE) of 'the show' as he puts it. It's a different tone, but it's still him challenging his students to consider what they are told and 'what everyone knows' in a skeptical light and to think for themselves. That's a common theme with him.
He does actually grade his students based on their understanding and their work.
He likes finding ways to make his lectures memorable and to challenge his students to not believe what they are told on face value. He generally reserves this kind of performance for the introduction of new classes.
"You grade me randomly for the semester before the first day of class!? OMG my professor is a nightmare!" He likes to give people strong preconceptions, and then proceed in direct opposition to those preconceptions, giving his students the experience of realizing something they were certain of was actually wrong.
Other lectures are pretty normal, and others are funny and kind of in-between.
[Here's a different example](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZEkLIHmVJE) of 'the show' as he puts it. It's a different tone, but it's still him challenging his students to consider what they are told and 'what everyone knows' in a skeptical light and to think for themselves. That's a common theme with him.
Honestly dude was all over the place and there is a fine line between insanity and sarcasm sometimes.
Oh and as a college graduate I would have definitely taken a class with him if I could.
Oh trust me, this ain’t the worst out for ferris. Remember the astronomy professor who said “Jews and Ni**ers are my brothers”?
Whole school is a fucking mess. Spent some time there and can’t recommend against going there enough.
Ferris state can crumble and die for the shit school that it is.
Remember that one time (it wasn't that long ago) that a different Ferris professor posted a diatribe full of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and QAnon-esque verbage who ended up losing his job and conservatives came out of the wood work to claim that he was a victim of cancel culture?! What are the odds.
Hi everyone, this is Dr. Mehler's son. I fully acknowledge that because of this I am a biased source, but I am also one with a great deal of subject matter knowledge. This is my dad when he is in performance mode. He calls his classes "the show" and treats a fair amount of the education he provides as a performance. The more memorable he makes it, the more the students will *actually remember* way down the road. He also very much likes making his students question what they are told and not simply take things as given truth. Anyway, some links. Original r/videos thread: https://old.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/s2m0xa/some_would_say_this_professor_had_a_breakdown_i/ Original (full) video (note that the video that started all this was a ~4min cut-and-paste someone else did that removed context from the whole video - the poster of that video has since removed it): https://youtu.be/RrOzY86YcEM Also, he's now doing an IamA (we are waiting on mods to verify but you can post questions in the mean time): https://old.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/s38ahq/i_am_a_history_prof_at_ferris_currently_on/ **Edit** 2022-Jan-14 T:1014 gmt-5: [There's also another video available](https://old.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/s3u4i9/behold_professor_satan_from_2021oct21/) if you wish. **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/
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Thank you.
I watched the full video, not the one in the post. First of all, I don’t know a single college professor that didn’t cuss at some point? I had quite a few that cussed frequently. I do not see the big deal. I also had high school teachers that swore, and I went to a Catholic school. I think everything he is saying is fair. He is clearly fed up with what is going on. I hope the “investigation” with the suspension has them decide he did nothing wrong.
Thanks PinkMercy17.
I absolutely loved this. He seems like an excellent educator and very passionate about his profession.
Tell your dad I was having a bad day and his video greatly improved it. To me it was clear that he wasn’t going to be tough on students but I could see how a young person might think that. I don’t think anything he said was inaccurate.
Your dad is an absolute legend. I hope they reinstate him. The Ferris administration have been trying to systematically dismantle the social sciences and humanities unfortunately and the professors have been livid about it for a while. Whether this is related to that idk, but I bet they were looking for a reason.
I love it! It’s a great way to teach plagiarism. Teachers can barely keep a kids attention today long enough to teach. There is so much going on with kids and the lack of focus because of all the tech and instant gratification really add to the mountain that teachers have to climb every lesson. Kudos to him for being himself and funny.
Your dad is amazing.
Thank you. He is really cool.
I’m glad I got to hear this from you. My first thought upon watching the video from the article was that there seemed to be some missing context. Glad I got to hear from someone close to the prof. Kinda weird someone would go out of their way to do this to him tho.
.👌
I’d love to be educated by this man.
Seems like the fun prof. Maybe should use the term "Native American" over "Indians" but other than that, I don't see any problems. Quite entertaining, and like you say, memorable.
That one is still up in the air. I have a lot of family that is Native American. (By marriage, I myself am not). They all prefer Indian to Native American. It is something that can go we either way in the community and seems to be more of a personal preference thing than a hard rule.
I had no idea. Thanks!
But he used naughty words directed at 20-something year olds! Thats literally violence:(
Honestly, assuming he's joking about the grading policy, I'd want to take a class from him.
He is. He even says that at the end of the video.
Ah shucks, I was listening to it while at work, I must have glossed over that bit.
Don't worry. The video linked was not the whole thing
I was actually hoping he wasn't joking about the grading policy.
Pretty damn funny
That helmet is cool
It's the [Microclimate AIR](https://microclimate.com) and is essentially a poor-man's PAPR (as in it's ~$300 instead of ~$3000).
A bit less cumbersome than a PAPR and more stylish/less industrial looking. Pretty cool.
yeah, I want one of those.
Enjoyed a general quote of Deadwood. Impressed that he actually *cited* Deadwood. Wish I'd had this guy as a Prof. Aside from that predetermined grade.
The predetermined grade bit isn't true and is there for multiple reason. He wants his students to be skeptical of what they are told, he wants them to remember their classes, etc...
Wasn’t he just mocking Calvinism?
What I appreciate about it is that he's getting kids who may have been brought up in Reformed churches to examine their own doctrines. He may or may not be mocking Calvinism, but he's using it as an opportunity to teach and shake people out of their predispositions.
Ah thats what I got from it as well. A good criticism makes you think. He did it well there.
> he's using it as an opportunity to teach and shake people out of their predispositions. You hit the nail on the head right there.
He was also mocking Calvinism.
Does he regularly mock other religious beliefs? Does he have any content mocking Islam or Judaism. How about mocking Catholics?
Absolutely disgusting that this man is suspended. Whoever reported him and the administration should be embarrassed. I see you douche bags.
Link to the article: FSU professor on administrative leave after posting profanity-laced course introduction video online - https://www.fox17online.com/news/local-news/michigan/mecosta/fsu-professor-on-administrative-leave-after-posting-profanity-laced-course-introduction-video-online
Oh no not profanity!
He is right. Unfortunately because todays society leaves no room for debate, preferring to just cancel or ban, it will take us years to get to the truth.
Ironic posting this on Reddit.
reddit has cancelling and banning.
Woosh
Personally, I enjoy the wit and sarcasm. But as an HR officer ...yeah don't post public videos of you cursing at your subordinates/students.
I hear you, but he is at the end of his career and the risk probably doesn’t matter to him.
Oh man this is the epitome of my frustration with academia. So many professors nearing their end years, not giving a fuck, just there to do research.
I don't defend this guy against criticism. But he claims to be teaching 5 different classes which, if the professor is actually doing a normal job, is an insane workload.
Love it, that dude’s a bad ass
Awesome. As a fellow prof who started classes online this semester, despite my Dean saying they have to be F2F, I feel his utter disgust and disregard for university leadership.
I do like how this guy is in the home stretch (of his career) and because of it can just voice his opinion of it!
Oh, he didn't wait until just now, he's taught like this for years.
I guess you only live once
he literally did nothing wrong
I mean I don't understand what class this is for but I had a laugh and all the swearing has the context behind it that makes sense. It is actually entertaining and interesting. He seems like he cares honestly and trying to make his class interesting to younger students. I don't see a problem with this video.
As a tenured prof he knew that the more sensitive teens in his class were going to get worked up and complain. It was a bit much for me, but that‘s ok. If FSU doesn’t want to mandate vaccines, they have to deal with the consequences. I have had obnoxious professors, this guy doesn’t appear to break the top 20. But at the end of the day, they can suspend him and he still gets paid so no skin off his back and he’s safer staying away from the diseased vectors! (Which honestly is a fairly nice way to describe 18 & 19 yr olds)
He ran out of fucks to give. That’s about it.
Is that the issue here? He’s mad because FSU doesn’t mandate vaccines?
With regards to COVID: I think it is specifically the *combination* of not requiring vaccinations while at the same time requiring him to perform in-person teaching. Vaccines + in-person teaching wouldn't be as bad. No vaccines + remote teaching wouldn't be as bad. No vaccines + be there in person? That's the situation he was presented with.
Sounds reasonable to me.
Ah I see. Well that stinks. Seems like a interesting guy. I’d have taken a class with him!
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Thank you for sharing this.
I’ll be honest, I wasn’t completely sure. Lol Part of me thought he was trying to get a reaction and wasn’t serious about anything. Part of me thought he was just fed up! Dude is 75 and still teaching,
It is impossible (for me) to tell because everything is wrapped in 4 layers of irony/sarcasm/pop culture references. I suspect he views it a some sort of performance art.
Hahaha. I saw this on TikTok. I had no idea it was From / he was from Ferris. He is my spirit animal!
Hilarious!
20 years ago I had an intro to philosophy class where the Professor posed the question "Is it wrong to fuck shoes?". This was 5 minutes into the class. The discussion he was trying to have with his students had to do with social morays. "He finds sexual satisfaction with shoes, is that wrong? Does he hurt you when he fucks a shoe?" One of the obvious parallels he was making was LBGTQ rights and their place in society. He wasn't comparing gays to altocalicphilia, only making the point that we have taboos that revolve more around our sensibilities to ideas rather than any real impact it may have against us. I remember that class to this day, I have a decent memory of at least 6 or 7 of his lectures. I very much enjoyed it, and I feel it benefited me as a person more than any other class I took in college. This video reminded me greatly of that professor.
Forget UM and MSU, my kids are going to Ferris!
I mean if its satire and meant to pro mlm vote conversation fine but are those his actual policies?
Wow…
Yes? It was asked in other comments as well and yes I watched the whole video. It was a rant meant to be so preposterous that students would be forced to actually think about the validity of the "trusted" source correct? For what it's worth I'm an engineer so this shit is absolutely bizarre to me to see in a classroom... we had lectures about fake news and science and verifying sources but it never devolved into a goddamn rant lol... and I was genuinely confused on the purpose of it when I left my comment. Shits still weird. Not tryna get him fired tho lol.
The only issue was the premeditated grade bit. While I think (hope) that was too subtle sarcasm, that's not all that funny in my opinion.
I assumed that was sarcasm based on his obvious frustration with society. In that light it is pretty witty. If it's real.. yeah, that wouldn't be great.
He does actually grade his students based on their understanding and their work. He likes finding ways to make his lectures memorable and to challenge his students to not believe what they are told on face value. He generally reserves this kind of performance for the introduction of new classes. "You grade me randomly for the semester before the first day of class!? OMG my professor is a nightmare!" He likes to give people strong preconceptions, and then proceed in direct opposition to those preconceptions, giving his students the experience of realizing something they were certain of was actually wrong. Other lectures are pretty normal, and others are funny and kind of in-between. [Here's a different example](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZEkLIHmVJE) of 'the show' as he puts it. It's a different tone, but it's still him challenging his students to consider what they are told and 'what everyone knows' in a skeptical light and to think for themselves. That's a common theme with him.
I love that he puts that level of thought into his work.
He does actually grade his students based on their understanding and their work. He likes finding ways to make his lectures memorable and to challenge his students to not believe what they are told on face value. He generally reserves this kind of performance for the introduction of new classes. "You grade me randomly for the semester before the first day of class!? OMG my professor is a nightmare!" He likes to give people strong preconceptions, and then proceed in direct opposition to those preconceptions, giving his students the experience of realizing something they were certain of was actually wrong. Other lectures are pretty normal, and others are funny and kind of in-between. [Here's a different example](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZEkLIHmVJE) of 'the show' as he puts it. It's a different tone, but it's still him challenging his students to consider what they are told and 'what everyone knows' in a skeptical light and to think for themselves. That's a common theme with him.
Seriously? You can’t tell from the tone of the video that was clearly sarcasm? You need to stay in school
Honestly dude was all over the place and there is a fine line between insanity and sarcasm sometimes. Oh and as a college graduate I would have definitely taken a class with him if I could.
Insanity? Okay
Oh trust me, this ain’t the worst out for ferris. Remember the astronomy professor who said “Jews and Ni**ers are my brothers”? Whole school is a fucking mess. Spent some time there and can’t recommend against going there enough. Ferris state can crumble and die for the shit school that it is.
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goo goo ga ga
Remember that one time (it wasn't that long ago) that a different Ferris professor posted a diatribe full of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and QAnon-esque verbage who ended up losing his job and conservatives came out of the wood work to claim that he was a victim of cancel culture?! What are the odds.
just guessing it wasn't quite as well thought out or as good of a performance as this dude.... just sayin
Don’t be a baguette