Posted on 03/24/2008 7:33:01 AM PDT by murdoog
They gotta be kidding. They can’t find ANY course in their curriculum where they could list Atlas Shrugged as “required reading” without forfeiting their academic integrity?
They are hopeless.
Atlas Shrugged is one of the greatest novels of the 20th Century. Everyone ought to read it.
It’s not a great novel from the point of view of literature - it’s didactic, cliche-ridden, and has cardboard-cut out characters. But it is extremely important from a philosophical and historical point of view, and there is absolutely no reason that it shouldn’t be read in this or any other class. In fact, it should be required reading.
The universities are free to choose. Accept the endowment under the stipulated conditions, or fore-go the funding.
Simple choice.
But I can't imagine professors will willingly go along and teach these ideas as just as valid as the rest of the crap they teach.
What is wrong with teaching the Bible as literature, anyway? With all the literary references to it, students are really missing out if they don't have at least a passing familiarity with Bible stories.
Bingo. They took the money...
If the requirement was to read something that was liberally correct, no one would have batted an eye. Of course goes without saying.
I would not be surprised to learn that many colleges actually have a Karl Marx reading room.
Wow.
Of course Chancellor Dubois probably thinks teaching Rigoberta Menchu as a requirement makes perfect good sense.
IIRC, UNCC required freshmen to read Menchu's totally fraudulent memoir -- even after it had been exposed as a fraud.
If I’m the donor, my response to all this is fine, I’ll give my donation to someone else. In fact, I might be tempted to do that just because they seem to be having such a difficult time of this. I would not want to require that the book be required reading, only to have some liberal professor trash it. Give the money to some college that will enthusiastically teach the material. There have got to be many that would. I can think of several right now.
Professors afraid of exposing students to different philosophies and political perspectives? Who would have thought.
Thank you for coining the term to replace “politically correct” with: “Liberally correct.”
Defined as:
The offered idea, statement, notion, act, or whatever is certified to conform with presently accepted liberal dogma (please check for hourly updates!) on sex, race, religion, politics, history, or any other of a myriad of topics liberals/lefties/tree huggers/vegans/GBLT/and the others currently have their panties in a twist over.
Hmmm, methinks this religion student is exhibiting, shall we say, a tendency?
I'd like to hear him vituperate on the subject of schools of politics and economics that have named whole wings, whole colleges after Karl Marx and his followers.
I had an anthro prof my freshman year in college who required that we read Chariots of the Gods . . . so that he could debunk it in class!!
We had a good time and learned about using reason and knowledge to attack popular fads. We could use some of that right about now with global warming . . . .
But the point remains that you can require your students read something without endorsing or supporting it. In fact, if your goal is to trash Ayn Rand, you then have a heck of a soapbox on which to do it . . . .
These faculty aren't really concerned about academic integrity or the "power to decide" what to teach. It's the content they object to. If a donation was made stipulating that Das Kapital or The Jungle had to be taught, there wouldn't be any such complaints.
I loved the line about having a Karl Marx reading room.
Hello!!!!!!????!?!?! You didn’t know that these universities are ALREADY teaching Marx??
For people who are obsessed with obtaining money, these university people sure do have a dim impression of capitalism. And its obvious that their institutions fail in proportion to their hostility to capitalism. They spend more and more money and yet still need even larger sums just ‘to get by’ each year. And yet their product does not improve. Hmmm..
Businesses should be allowed to fail. So should universities.
The term “liberal” is surely an Orwellian one - the term seems to have its etymological roots in the word “liberty” but the two concepts are antithetical. And no one ever notices this.
Like the term Red State - if there was any logic in the world this would refer to the RATS but alas it doesn’t.
Orwell lives!
..."and I'm sure glad they taught me that because I never would have figured it out on my own!"
Perhaps this is a good place to ask the following semi-related question:
I remember in the late 60’s or early 70’s there was a commercial, or PSA that warned us against Communism. I am not insane, I saw it many times. Do any of you remember it?
It showed a school-aged child in a chair, wrapped in chains and blindfolded! The voice said things like “Capitalism is bad.” and other brain-washing phrases... Then the announcer came on and warned of teaching children the wrong things. I cannot find anyone who remembers it! I’d love to find it.
The situation in this thread reminds me of it, only the Communists are winning!
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