tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070355695530434450.post6585877872000185929..comments2024-03-14T04:16:20.472-07:00Comments on In Socrates' Wake: The humanities in decline: Are we overreacting?Michael Cholbihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02012523929044363216noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070355695530434450.post-44501530169643727772010-10-06T15:48:04.816-07:002010-10-06T15:48:04.816-07:00Jonathon raises a very good point. I am sure this...Jonathon raises a very good point. I am sure this stat is different now (but probably not by much), but back @ 1990 if a person got a BA/BS degree he or she would be 1 of @1% of the world's population that has a college education. This further demonstrates that critical thinking skills must be developed prior to college - probably prior to high school. There must be studies out there somewhere that show if there is a correlation between developed critical thinking skills and high school graduation rates.John Alexanderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16388418182862297211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070355695530434450.post-37747455006423607332010-10-06T12:52:48.479-07:002010-10-06T12:52:48.479-07:00Not every citizen even goes to college, so it seem...Not every citizen even goes to college, so it seems dangerous to make one segment of the college curriculum the basis of civic education. Not only that, but I don't see how we are more successful the more we bore our students. That's a pretty outrageous claim. I share the idea that Humanities classes should be more than mere entertainment, but judging our success by our dullness!Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070355695530434450.post-54791732968347233022010-10-05T14:03:56.384-07:002010-10-05T14:03:56.384-07:00I think that one question that needs to be asked i...I think that one question that needs to be asked is what effect 'for-profit' schools are having in this discussion. I read recently that @ 9% of college students are going to for-profit schools. Having taught at two for-profit schools, I can attest to the fact that the humanities are being watered down in those institutions. At one, the only philosophy course offered is Philosophy of Ethics and at the other ethics is subsumed into legal issues courses, for example Health Care Law and Ethics where ethics is treated in a legalistic, rule compliance framework. <br /><br />As I suggested in another thread, I think that there is a risk that Obama's recent educational push is going to accelerate the push for more technical, scientific, and mathematical educational related courses and majors at the expense of those that do not necessarily feed the economic system. While it may be the case that the CEO's of Fortune 500 organizations do not have these types of degrees, but we should remember that they make up only a very small percentage of the work force. If one has been following some of the reports on Leiter Report and elsewhere, it is clear that many institutions are starting to ask for departments to justify their existence based on their cost versus number of majors/minors as well as courses taught. The Humanties might be 'healthy' now, but what does the future hold if monies are going to be directed towards improving educational offerings in math, science, and technology. Where do we think that money is going to come from? The most efficient way to generate this money to to reduce those departments that are not producing major/minors and putting it into those departments that are earmarked as those that are needed for future economic growth, competitiveness, and viability. If that means that less courses in the Humanities will be offered that is offset by the increase in courses in other areas. We need to remember that traditional colleges/universities are now competing for students with 'for-profit colleges/universities, not to mention Community Colleges where @ 43% of undergraduate students are receiving part, if not all, their college education.John Alexanderhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16388418182862297211noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070355695530434450.post-53712304206780762642010-10-05T08:22:41.113-07:002010-10-05T08:22:41.113-07:00The article agrees with my experience, for that th...The article agrees with my experience, for that that is worth. I am really skeptical that students who have taken highly vocational courses of study are getting an education attuned to that important part of our nature, which is to be what Elijah Millgram calls "serial hyperspecializers."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070355695530434450.post-61448990877975014732010-10-05T07:42:37.694-07:002010-10-05T07:42:37.694-07:00As a sociologist of the family, I am very familiar...As a sociologist of the family, I am very familiar with the declinist narrative.<br /><br />The fact is that focusing on percentages in a context where more options have become available leads to wrong conclusions.JoVEhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16680602039278597976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070355695530434450.post-87314091229403859822010-10-04T19:21:55.991-07:002010-10-04T19:21:55.991-07:00Shouldn't the humanities, as taught in college...Shouldn't the humanities, as taught in college classrooms, be the main place where citizens are molded and given guidance today, since families are in shambles and religion doesn't matter anymore? I think that young people need to be preached to, need to encounter some kind of righteousness, and find next to none of it in humanities classes. <br /><br />I also think that 'success' in the humanities should be evaluated by how often students are bored in class, not by how well humanists can rationalize their existence in a college system where 'studying business' is far more important.<br /><br />I enjoy your content, and I run a fledgling blog dealing with much the same topics, if you're interested.Pemulishttp://authenticmasks.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8070355695530434450.post-18945580677734903962010-10-04T19:18:55.845-07:002010-10-04T19:18:55.845-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Pemulishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07779605943241891422noreply@blogger.com