Free Republic

One often hears liberal-arts professors, as well as college and K-12 administrators, advocating two ideas about academics in America: (a) the importance of a broad, well-rounded, liberal-arts education and (b) the equating of that education solely with the head, not the heart. In 1931, John Dewey chaired a national curriculum conference that declared the liberal arts important for “the organization, transmission, extension and application of knowledge” (emphasis added). That concept has given us the educational system we have today, and it is not what was promised. A “Well-Rounded” Education Don’t misunderstand my point; there is great value in a broad,...

St. Cloud State University finalizes plan to cut back on degrees, minors amidst budget problems Nearly one in three degree programs at St. Cloud State University will get the ax, due to budgetary problems. Roughly 60 percent of minors are also getting the boot at the public university, according to a recent announcement. “In a presentation to the campus community on Tuesday, SCSU Acting President Larry Lee confirmed the university will suspend 42 degree programs and 50 minor programs,” KARE 11 reported yesterday. The news outlet reported that other cuts were made last year as well. “The reductions will leave...

A top university in the United States is now offering a class called “Afrochemistry,” with the intention of explaining alleged “inequities in chemistry and chemical education.” As the Daily Caller reports, the class will be taught at Rice University from January 8th to April 19th, 2024. The class has no final exam. “Students will apply chemical tools and analysis to understand Black life in the U.S. and students will implement African American sensibilities to analyze chemistry,” the course description states. “Diverse historical and contemporary scientists, intellectuals, and chemical discoveries will inform personal reflections and proposals for addressing inequities in chemistry...