Are college professors the final word on certain topics(i.e. History,Religion,etc.)?

Answer 1

They may be in a better position to talk about their areas of study than most because they've spent many years reading, thinking and teaching about it, but they are not infallible either and don't know everything. They continue to do research, meaning they are still learning too. Even in age-old subjects like religion and philosophy where we're still talking about the same questions that the ancients asked themselves (and where we can't say that we're making "progress" in the same way you can with science), there are always new and interesting ways of looking at things and contributing to the dialogue.

There is no "final word" on most things, only more and less reliable sources of information and ideas. You can usually count on your profs to know what they're talking about because they've done their research, but their informed opinions are just that, opinions.

Answer 2

Nobody is the final word on anything. Some college professors carry on like they know it all and that what they have to say is the ultimate truth. Not so. Knowledge changes with the times. A true educator knows that he/she does not know everything and that his/her conclusions about something are not necessarily the entire picture.

Answer 3

No, they are not. They are very informed about their topic, know a lot of information about it, and have very educated opinions about it, but others also have valid opinions and thoughts on the topics. Sometimes because we know so much about a topic we can be too close to it, and therefore miss important aspects of it.

Answer 4

As I used to tell my students, the professor is also a student a bit (sometimes quite a bit) further along the road.