classes during Thanksgiving weekend

I don't think anything is suppose to be due during the break. Not sure about that though. We all take work home during thanksgiving break. As much as I try not to I am always writing lengthy papers over the break. Time off is really not time off while you are in college. Participating in classroom discussion is pushing it though, especially if it's a specific time. 

I can understand your point, and I suggest that you bring it up with the professor.  If you feel really strongly about it and he/she doesn't want to budge, involve the department chair.

That said, I can guarantee that there are professors who will be grading, developing lesson plans, or working on research during the holiday break.  I'll certainly be using the opportunity for study.

I think it is ridiculous that we have classes at all on the week of Thanksgiving.  Most schools don't do this.  Luckily for me all of my professors cancelled classes for the week but some people might not be as lucky.  I live in California so how the hell would I be able to make it home for Thanksgiving if I have a Wednesday or Tuesday class?  Luckily my professors are awesome.  I feel bad for people who have class till Wednesday.

**edit**  *I don't mean not having to study or have work.  I just mean having lectures that week (a shortened one anyways) could be avoided.  Start the quarter a couple of days earlier or something (we started on a tuesday this quarter anyways)*

Seriously?  Most schools outside the United States are in session much longer than here.  I don't really see the requirements as onerous at all.

 yeah cause the rest of the world celebrates Thanksgiving....and European degrees are mostly 3 years not 4 to 5.

Spottsk, you are right. Thanksgiving is an American holiday only.  People around the world do not care about Thanksgiving.
Let me tell you about schools outside of the United States Mr. moderator, since I have been to more countries around this world than most people. Schools around the world are different and have different schedules. I have never heard of a school that required their students to participate in classroom discussions during the time  the school was closed. And I have never heard of a professor who disrespected our all American holiday so much that he/she required students to spend their holiday studying. What happened to family time?

When you require your students to spend their Thanksgiving holiday studying, you don't disrespect your students, you disrespect an all American tradition! 

If you really do feel strongly about this class requiring work over Thanksgiving break you can always talk to the Department head about it, then if it really is against University policy they can talk to your professor about it and it won't happen in future quarters.

Is your professor requiring you to participate in the on-line discussion ON Thanksgiving day? If not, then I don't see what the big deal is. The quarter is flying by as it is and if professors were to just stop everything for Thanksgiving weekend, there would be no time at all for all the material they are teaching. A lot of students will have homework over Thanksgiving weekend (Friday, Saturday, Sunday...) that will be due the following Monday. Finals will be coming up two weeks after Thanksgiving weekend so there really is not that much time left...a lot of assignments will be due during that time. Again, the only real holiday would be Thanksgiving Day....otherwise the rest of the weekend is basically like any other weekend where students study/prepare for the upcoming week.

As a student in the natural sciences, I'm always prepared to do more work than I might typically do during a week of classes over thanksgiving!  OP has is easy.  Though I agree, being required to participate in class on the holiday itself(as already mentioned) would be pushing things a bit, if that is indeed the case.

Cheers

If you are traveling and will not be near a computer then perhaps I can see your point.  However, if you are just posting this because you feel entitled to a holiday weekend free from school activities then I think you will be disappointed.  If the former is the case, my suggestion as others have pointed out would be to contact your professor and let them know that you will not have computer access.  The worst that could happen is that they deny your plight.  I suppose another question I have, is how much of your grade is this worth?  If it is a small portion then I might suggest, if you don't wish to talk to your professor, that you could just make the adult decision and not do the work, and expect to lose those points.  You are also making an assumption about the professors...how do you know what they do with their holiday?  I know that some take the opportunity to catch up on grading papers or make lesson plans for the following week.  Also, the professors were students before becoming what they are and perhaps they had teachers who kept them on task in their learning and they felt that it was a good thing and so are passing on the tradition. 

Here is a lesson that you will need to get used to as you navigate your college career and throughout your life as you enter into the working world.  Many students, myself included, look forward to time off but also know that studying comes with the territory regardless of the day. It has been rare as a student that I could afford to take four consecutive days away from studying.

I understand how disappointing it is to have to do things (like studying) during a time in which you had set aside for a holiday, but you will come to find that there will be times when these concessions will become necessary to complete big projects or even show up for work.  Some employers demand and expect this (depending on the industry).  I do not think it is unreasonable for students to have to complete work during the holiday.  A buzzkill yes, but not unreasonable.  Ask around and I imagine you will find a few students that have papers due the week following the holiday.  I doubt they are going to wait until Sunday night to work on them.

Perhaps this is a new concept for you, but it is something that many students already understand.  Holidays are not all about unbridled leisure.  Most of us have to mix in a paper or some reading.  A simple blackboard assignment seems hardly worth complaining about.  One of the more important lessons college teaches students is how to deal with and respond to adversity.  Here is your opportunity to do that.  This will be good practice for future instances in which this skill will be sorely needed.

You can complain about this to the department or your professor, but I know from talking with other profs that they enjoy full academic license to design their classes in any way they choose.   Moreover, you are not likely to engender any good will within the department or with your professor.  Professors cannot arbitrarily decide your scores, but they sometimes do bump students up a grade if they are within percentage points.  

In light of this, you might reconsider lodging a complaint.  It may not be worth the trouble.

This is completely dependent on the degree work.  The degrees range in duration from 3-5 years in the commonwealth, whereas virtually every American degree is four years, with the only deviation when students take additional credits for double major.

The rest of the world definitely doesn't celebrate thanksgiving, but they do have their own holiday's.  Like I said in my previous post, if you have a problem with it, bring it up with the professor, if the don't budge, then bring it up with the department chair.  I understand that venting is a great activity, but I personally don't have any issues with asking students to study over breaks.  You have to study over the weekend during the term don't you?

I agree with you and most others here. I would guess more students than not will have assignments and studying to do over break, but the OP’s situation is kind of different. I may have overlooked this, but if you are required to participate at a specific time, I feel like that is unfair because that is like having to attend class. If you are able to do it anytime over break or by whatever deadline there is than I feel that is fine. Regardless, I do still feel like professors need to give themselves and their students a break. I don’t agree with the rationale that they need to stuff in some more assignments over break because the quarter is going by so fast or whatever… Fall quarter is already the longest quarter and it’s not like the break is unexpected, they can easily work around it.

I don’t think I ever had a quarter at WWU where I didn’t have any school work I had to do over Thanksgiving break. That’s just the way the cards fall. It can be unfair for some, but you likely knew you got yourself into it the first week of classes when you read the syllabus.

As for professors requiring class attendance on Wednesday before noon, I think that is totally OK. BUT, I think that the university should officially make it a day off. I think that it does make it difficult for students that need to travel out of town. Last year, all but one of my classes were cancelled on Wednesday before break and I would have skipped that class but the professor had a big assignment that was due on that day so everyone had to go. That was pretty lame and I think that is unfair for people that have to travel.
 

Is this tongue in cheek?  I can never tell with over the top patriotism.

Perfect.  This post says everything.