cbkeswick

Thanks everyone! All of these responses are very helpful. Actually, I'm the Marxist. Thankfully, I think that this professor does not aggressively attack Marxism but rather does what he can within the realm of liberal political theory.

I couldn't find anything on this topic when I searched for it, so I thought I'd try asking myself. I'm beginning an English PhD program in the fall, but I'm afraid that the school's foremost specialist in my field, who believes very strongly in political criticism, might profess very different political opinions from my own. I find that the questions and problems that he addresses in his work are exactly those that I want to write about, but he sometimes comes to different conclusions and accepts a different set of values. (The difference is between free-market liberalism and Marxism.) So, my question: How much does any of this matter? Will conflicting political opinions prevent him from working with me effectively, especially when the topic is bound to be so heavily political? Or will a dissenting voice actually prove quite helpful? I'd like to hear if anyone's had this kind of experience.