A Columbia University student has criticized Hillary Clinton's course on decision-making, claiming that the former Secretary of State merely recited passages from her book and increasingly adopted a political persona as the semester progressed.
Laalitya Acharya, a current student at Columbia University, expressed her disappointment with Clinton's teaching approach in a TikTok video posted in December. "I would have really, really hoped that she would bring in some more unique insights rather than her almost basically reciting passages from her book word for word during lecture," Acharya stated.
Clinton co-taught the course, titled "Inside the Situation Room," with Keren Yarhi-Milo, the dean of Columbia University, during the fall semester of 2023. However, Acharya felt that Clinton failed to establish a relatable connection with the students, leading to a sense of disconnect.
"There was a kind of divide between the students and the professors I'd hoped that over the course of the semester, Clinton would start to loosen up a little bit. We'd get to know more about Clinton as an individual and really be able to have a professor/student relationship rather than just having her talk at us," Acharya explained.
Unfortunately, according to Acharya, this was not the case. "For the entire semester, it felt very much like a one-sided speaking engagement where Clinton and Yarhi-Milo were just talking at us," she said. "That was definitely frustrating because a big part of why we were in the class was to understand more about decision-making, why people made the decisions that they did."
Acharya further noted that Clinton became less relatable as the semester went on. "Over the course of the semester, though, I feel like Hillary Clinton became more of a politician than she was at the end," she said.
The course description for "Inside the Situation Room" stated that it aimed to teach students to "think carefully and analytically about how leaders arrive at their decisions." It also promised to help students understand the complex interplay between individual psychology, domestic politics, public opinion, bureaucracy, the international environment, and other factors influencing foreign policy decisions.
However, Acharya claimed that Clinton failed to provide any new insights or examples that she hadn't already mentioned in her book or published articles. "I would have really, really hoped that she would bring in some more unique insights and more vulnerability and discussion on why she made the decisions that she did, what her insights were, what her thoughts were," Acharya said.
Acharya also suggested that Clinton could have been more honest with the students. "So while I don't regret taking the class, I think there are definitely places where she could have been more honest with us because she wasn't in her role as secretary of state or politician. She was there as a professor to teach, and I wish that she had embraced that role a little bit more," she concluded.
Columbia University has yet to respond to requests for comment on Acharya's criticisms of Clinton's teaching approach.
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