Will growing hatred of intellectualism destroy the public University?

[greekspeak]

Seems like every day, post-secondary education is attacked. Universities, professors, and anything attached to them seem to have become scapegoats. Right-wing talking heads attach tags like "ultra-liberal," "leftist," and "revisionist" to the university and professors. As people become more and more turned off to higher education, what will the outcome be?

[vi5]

1. It's not going to stop people from going to school....

But if anything it will do to higher education what it did to the media. The constant harping about a liberal bias will force a swing in the opposite direction.

Hopefully the fact that higher education actually involves factual analysis and deep thought will prevent it from ever actually becoming a haven for wingnuts, but you never know.

[Bandit]

11. "actually involves factual analysis "

One person's facts are another person's lies. Just like the new Reagan movie. If the right-wingers are not happy with the facts they just change them to suit their needs. If there is a right-wing professor the facts will be what the professor says they are. History is always revised. The old books will be destroyed and new books with the new proper facts will be the gospel. In fact there was a post here yesterday I believe about the new books just published and they had pages dealing with Reagan and Ike but not a word on LBJ or JFK or MLK. Facts are tricky things.

[quinnox]

2. I'm not sure it would be a bad thing

I'm not going to expand on this, but I recall reading a philosopher who had some really interesting things to say about education, and how it should be done.

[sable302]

3. not compltely destroy

They will just turn it into a publicly-financed vocational training program for corporate America.

We will say bye bye to programs in philosophy, religion, history, art, music, or anything else that smacks of what we used to call a 'liberal' education.

[Iverson]

4. It's a long term project.

It has been going on for some time and shows no signs of abating.

The outcome will become Lyszenkoism and otherwise higher education reconceived as vocational training school.

College and university faculty need to become more insistent about academic freedom. Now, too many sit in their offices and smugly accept poststructuralism as their ticket to radicalism while allowing the academy to become an administrative plaything with a conservative agenda.

[Leados]

5. The Reason that Colleges are Labeled this way is because

Much of the time, those who really, really WISH to learn tend to be more liberal. What conservative wants to learn about something that can't make them much money/power? If the Right succeeds in cutting the University systems to shreds, its over. Pack up your bags, cause its time to leave.

Here in Missouri, I hear crap like this all the time "the profs aren't conservative enough." That's because many "Conservatives" are that way because they don't wish to open up and either a) Learn and/or b) consider the idea that there may not be a supreme being/force out there and that we could be ALONE on this warm rock in the middle of a cold cold universe.

[greekspeak]

7. Being a Missourian until July

I have heard such garbage as "the profs aren't conservative enough." One particular prof of mine was despised in the community or Springfield, because he challenged fundamentalist beleifs in the pages of the Springfield paper. It was not enough to say "I do not beleive what this man says is incorrect." He was a "librul," a menace to the community, evil, blasphemous, and wrong, so very wrong. Those in the local community railed against the "librul" evil over at SMSU, although the school's administration was VERY conservative. The college president buried every progressive idea from a broader non-discrimination policy to "blue lights" under a heap of empty rhetoric and logical fallacy. The profs, though mostly very progressive hardly acted like they were at UCAL Berkley. The students tended to be about as conservative as the administration. Teachers who did not reinforce student beliefs are often called "nazi" and the like. I agree...if conservatives read something-ANYTHING-not written to reinforce their own agenda, they would not remain conservative for long.

[newyawker99]

9. Hi Leados!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[BiggJawn]

6. It already has.

Public Universities are seen nowdays as Manager Factories. You sign up and spend your money to get your kid an MBA or some other income-producing wallpaper.

What used to be called "The Humanities" are now seen as archaic "bullshit" taught by "fossil hippies" because "Nobody makes any money with just a Liberal Arts Degree...."

MBA's, Doctors, Lawyers, Engineers, all the money-makers. And the Universities delight in cranking these out, because they KNOW that for every 10,000 middle managers they pop out, at LEAST one will come back to campus with pockets brimming, just itching to pony up several million to get their name on a new building...

[greekspeak]

8. A common use for humanities degrees, like religion, is

as a stepping stone for law degrees. VERY common.

[Scott Lee]

10. Hatred of intellectualism is a trait of Fascism

Read the signs, folks. It all has historical precedent.

Supremacy of the military - Beligerent government military policy - use of terror to support gradual erosion of rights - attacks on the arts and intellectualism -....all stepping stones to the attainment of the true fascist state.

Pass the fasces, hold the butter.