Posted on 01/18/2024 5:46:53 AM PST by Red Badger
Identity politics has corrupted academic disciplines and produced bad, politically warped forms of knowledge, says Alka Sehgal Cuthbert in Spiked, and even the hard sciences are no longer immune. Here’s an excerpt.
Witness the introduction of ‘Afrochemistry’, a new module in Rice University’s undergraduate chemistry degree. Students who choose this module will “apply chemical tools and analysis to understand black life in the U.S.” and “implement African-American sensibilities [eh? How do you “implement” a “sensibility”?] to analyse chemistry”, according to Rice’s website. “No prior knowledge of chemistry or African-American studies is required for engagement in this course,” it assures prospective students.
How, precisely, does “black life” affect chemistry – an objective, scientific discipline? And what exactly are these “African-American sensibilities”? Do Rice academics believe they have stumbled upon the ‘essence’ of being a black American, as if black Americans are a homogenous cultural bloc? And even so, what does all this have to do with chemistry? This is all hokum, bunkum, superstitious and retrograde. Such mythical thinking might have a place in artistic practice, but not in the study of the hard sciences.
Terms like “black life” and “African-American sensibilities” may have some delimited use within certain disciplines, such as sociology, anthropology and politics. But they are not generalisable concepts of knowledge. Furthermore, these buzzwords gesture to a racialised belief system, political discourse and social practice – the sort of things you’d find in DEI policies. They have nothing to do with the pursuit of scientific truth.
“We are at risk of undermining the very foundations of academia,” Alka says.
Worth reading in full:
https://www.spiked-online.com/2024/01/15/afrochemistry-identity-politics-is-killing-academia/
They need to do a remake of “Breaking Bad” with a black chemistry teacher.
Lol.
From the Link:
“Afrochemistry appears to be the pet project of Brooke Johnson, the ‘preceptor’ (whatever that is) in the diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) department at Rice.”
Ahhhh! The modern ‘chemistry’ of waffles and chicken?
Just set those jokers free in a real chemistry lab...but make sure you’re a few thousand feet away. Nature will take care of itself.
The Hollyweirdos do a lot of ‘remakes’ with black casts where the original was white. They usually flop.
“The Wiz” a 1978 remake of The Wizard of Oz, starring Diana Ross, Michael Jackson and a host of other top black stars of the time, didn’t even make back its production budget.............
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wiz_(film)
I wonder if they teach you to stir mud with a stick.
I suspect the difference between black chemistry and white chemistry is the grading system applied. Very easy to get high grades in black chemistry particularly if one is black.
They are not doing Black Students any favors.
They fill their heads with crap, and when they graduate they discover that the real world does not care what woke studies you majored in, but what can you DO TO MAKE MY COMPANY MONEY.
Worthless social engineering degrees VS lucrative science engineering degrees.
What’s hanging on your wall?.................
Yup. No shortage of people in ANY discipline that want to virtue signal. You would think that the military would be the last holdout, but no.
They are not doing Black Students any favors.
Meanwhile the students who do actually come here from Africa are like “WTF?”.
I’ve heard of “Afro Engineering,” but never “Afrochemistry.” Sounds like a follow-up on the effort to mainstream “Ebonics.”
“We are at risk of undermining the very foundations of academia,” Alka says
I doubt that, somewhere there are still classes that teach real science. In the long run people in those classes that learn actual science will continue to make discoveries and put forth sound science. Those that take DEI courses will write up junk science and get nowhere scientifically.
This is a waste of time, money and leads nowhere. If Black kids want to learn chemistry then they should enroll in an introductory chemistry course.
Utter idiocy.
This is one of those ‘feel good’ courses that the good professor dreamed up so he can get pats on the back at all the social functions and get his name on all kinds of ‘lists’ of self-absorbed academics that have been instrumental in destroying the education system in this once great nation.
It is nothing more than Academic Onanism for the woke virtue signalers to high five each other....................
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