It is appalling to me, too. it appears that the colleges are making these cuts to save money...and students have been convinced that a liberal arts degree has little monetary value after college and they need to pay off enormous debt. I wrote this piece to show the other side—that LA degrees do have a high level of value, monetary and otherwise.
I wrote about how potentially damaging this "washing" of history could be in my upcoming book. The Utah State Legislature passed a resolution prohibiting CRT [Critical Race Theory] be taught in K-12 public schools. [That legal battle is still being waged by the ACLU, to this day.] It's not at all ironic that as a child I was taught to use racial slurs by my peers [and a few teachers].
Thanks for the comment, Brian. I'll look up your books. That is horrifying about what you were taught and by whom. I grew up in a small town in Ohio, but it was racially and ethnically diverse. I'm sure some of my teachers were prejudiced, but I never heard a racial slur...well, maybe once from a peer...
I fear you might not be too impressed with my two "other" books which were probably written in my worst light. I suspect my third book might be more widely read. [Ebook Nov./audiobook early '24/hardback Spring '24]
I think you hit the nail on the head when you mentioned return on investment. The value of a humanities degree is more difficult to put a number on versus more specific job training. And employers say they want creative and critical thinkers, but not so creative and critical that they'll be uppity and start a union. :) (I don't think it's a coincidence that most of the active members of the teacher's union in the school where my partner works are in the English, art, and music departments. And also maybe not surprising that they don't have a civics department, but that the English teachers all do their part to pick up that slack by offering extra credit for voter registrations for seniors, integrating essays on current events into curriculum, talking endlessly about source evaluation and backing an argument up with verifiable facts, etc.) It's a delicate dance we play, between our professed values and our actual policies, and I think that a docile and uniformed workforce that is civically disengaged is the goal, not a coincidence.
I very much agree, Cathleen. Many employers prefer "a docile and uninformed workforce". We have to take it upon ourselves to become educated and assertive if not aggressive.
Joan, how can a country that calls itself a democracy and as a citizen living in said democracy not know what that even means or how the government is structured. I deeply feel that civics government and history of democracy should be mandated and required for all grades but especially in the secondary schools. 9-12. How can “the good politicians” expect an informed populace especially during election time if half that group doesn’t understand how government works? And we wonder why our world and the people in public office are so divided and non functioning. It’s really sad and every educational system in this country should implement these courses as mandatory.
Yes, mandatory for at least Civics! It is a total embarrassment that nearly 50% if not more, cannot name the three branches of government. Unfortunately, I think some of our current elected officials are part of that percentage...
In my view, it's terribly unfashionable to speak out about an issue that you feel strongly about. Perhaps the impact of social media is to raise the level of insecurity and force conformity. Perhaps the woke-left-green movement has so dominated curricula in the schools and universities and is so intolerant of dissent that it makes people very careful about what they say? Up to the day of the referendum on THE VOICE the issue was in doubt. Within an hour of the polls closing, we knew that the proposal had been resoundingly rejected. All those people came out of the woodwork to register their disapproval, in the privacy of the ballot box, of the idea of giving one group in society special access to the Australian Parliament.
This says to me that we should have more referenda. And the universities need to take stock of what they are offering. Look at it like any other business.
Personally, I would like to see a referendum on the idea of pursuing net zero.
I agree that in the U.S at least, that there does seem to be intolerance in higher education about voicing different views. But I also believe strongly that racist statements and views should NOT be tolerated from people in authority.
Great! No more well rounded college grads; just science and math nerds. It's appalling that universities are doing this and for what purpose??
It is appalling to me, too. it appears that the colleges are making these cuts to save money...and students have been convinced that a liberal arts degree has little monetary value after college and they need to pay off enormous debt. I wrote this piece to show the other side—that LA degrees do have a high level of value, monetary and otherwise.
I wrote about how potentially damaging this "washing" of history could be in my upcoming book. The Utah State Legislature passed a resolution prohibiting CRT [Critical Race Theory] be taught in K-12 public schools. [That legal battle is still being waged by the ACLU, to this day.] It's not at all ironic that as a child I was taught to use racial slurs by my peers [and a few teachers].
Thanks for the comment, Brian. I'll look up your books. That is horrifying about what you were taught and by whom. I grew up in a small town in Ohio, but it was racially and ethnically diverse. I'm sure some of my teachers were prejudiced, but I never heard a racial slur...well, maybe once from a peer...
I fear you might not be too impressed with my two "other" books which were probably written in my worst light. I suspect my third book might be more widely read. [Ebook Nov./audiobook early '24/hardback Spring '24]
I'll keep an eye out for it!
I think you hit the nail on the head when you mentioned return on investment. The value of a humanities degree is more difficult to put a number on versus more specific job training. And employers say they want creative and critical thinkers, but not so creative and critical that they'll be uppity and start a union. :) (I don't think it's a coincidence that most of the active members of the teacher's union in the school where my partner works are in the English, art, and music departments. And also maybe not surprising that they don't have a civics department, but that the English teachers all do their part to pick up that slack by offering extra credit for voter registrations for seniors, integrating essays on current events into curriculum, talking endlessly about source evaluation and backing an argument up with verifiable facts, etc.) It's a delicate dance we play, between our professed values and our actual policies, and I think that a docile and uniformed workforce that is civically disengaged is the goal, not a coincidence.
I very much agree, Cathleen. Many employers prefer "a docile and uninformed workforce". We have to take it upon ourselves to become educated and assertive if not aggressive.
Joan, how can a country that calls itself a democracy and as a citizen living in said democracy not know what that even means or how the government is structured. I deeply feel that civics government and history of democracy should be mandated and required for all grades but especially in the secondary schools. 9-12. How can “the good politicians” expect an informed populace especially during election time if half that group doesn’t understand how government works? And we wonder why our world and the people in public office are so divided and non functioning. It’s really sad and every educational system in this country should implement these courses as mandatory.
Yes, mandatory for at least Civics! It is a total embarrassment that nearly 50% if not more, cannot name the three branches of government. Unfortunately, I think some of our current elected officials are part of that percentage...
Joan,
In my view, it's terribly unfashionable to speak out about an issue that you feel strongly about. Perhaps the impact of social media is to raise the level of insecurity and force conformity. Perhaps the woke-left-green movement has so dominated curricula in the schools and universities and is so intolerant of dissent that it makes people very careful about what they say? Up to the day of the referendum on THE VOICE the issue was in doubt. Within an hour of the polls closing, we knew that the proposal had been resoundingly rejected. All those people came out of the woodwork to register their disapproval, in the privacy of the ballot box, of the idea of giving one group in society special access to the Australian Parliament.
This says to me that we should have more referenda. And the universities need to take stock of what they are offering. Look at it like any other business.
Personally, I would like to see a referendum on the idea of pursuing net zero.
I agree that in the U.S at least, that there does seem to be intolerance in higher education about voicing different views. But I also believe strongly that racist statements and views should NOT be tolerated from people in authority.