I recently emailed a professor I had during my undergrad in Political Science, and it was quite sad to hear how, even within a span of 4 years, the dynamic has changed so much. The professor I emailed was great at playing both sides of the political spectrum during our seminars on international development and playing the role of a "right-leaning" person to provoke discussions with a class that was heavily left, including myself. He told me how students only come to class to validate their beliefs rather than having them challenged.