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Friday, October 16. 2015

Most college students graduate without being required to take ‘fundamental courses'

From the report:



ACTA says in a press release today that only 24 schools out of 1,100 examined received its “A” grade. Their graduation requirements include at least six of seven subjects that are essential to a liberal arts education: literature, composition, economics, math, intermediate-level foreign language, science and American government/history.


Posted by The Barrister in Education at 14:31 | Comments (5) | Trackbacks (0)

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The purpose of these mandatory course that generally fall outside of the selected course of study is simply job security for the professors that teach those classes. Does it really matter if someone seeking a degree in computer science takes a foreign language or not?
#1 GoneWithTheWind on 2015-10-16 15:50 (Reply)
Probably not, at least in today's hyphenated sciences. But, a reading knowledge of French or German was a necessity when I majored in an un-hyphenated science in the early '50s. A whole lot of breakthroughs were published and masticated in French and German journals. And, there were no computerized translations back then; univac didn't have enough power and you couldn't get time if you were a scientific field hand.
#1.1 BillH on 2015-10-16 16:49 (Reply)
Never took economics or a college-level math course. I avoided math like the plague. Took an extra science course with a lab instead.
#2 MissT on 2015-10-16 18:21 (Reply)
This might be of importance if the literature, economics and American government/history hadn't long ago been debased. It's been so long that even those in who desire to fight the servile ideology don't dare raise the truth lest they be driven out of the university.

QUOTE:
The passionate endeavors to eliminate the classical studies from the curriculum of the liberal education and thus virtually to destroy its very character were one of the major manifestations of the revival of the servile ideology.

It is a fact that a hundred years ago only a few people anticipated the over-powering momentum which the antilibertarian ideas were destined to acquire in a very short time. The ideal of liberty seemed to be so firmly rooted that everybody thought that no reactionary movement could ever succeed in eradicating it. It is true, it would have been a hopeless venture to attack freedom openly and to advocate unfeignedly a return to subjection and bondage. But antiliberalism got hold of peoples’ minds camouflaged as superliberalism, as the fulfillment and consummation of the very ideas of freedom and liberty. It came disguised as socialism, communism, planning.

No intelligent man could fail to recognize that what the socialists, communists and planners were aiming at was the most radical abolition of the individuals’ freedom and the establishment of government omnipotence.

Mises, Ludwig von. The Anti-Capitalistic Mentality, 1956


No intelligent man could fail to recognize, but so many have turned a blind eye in hopes that they or their most intimate friends will hold the reigns of power and thus avoid liquidation.
#3 JK Brown on 2015-10-16 20:03 (Reply)
Back in the day, earned a B.Sc. (Hon) in geology. Like all science students at my uni, had to take a fair few "arts" courses so I would be "well rounded". Always ended up in said courses competing with majors in those fields for marks. Reverse was not true: arts majors were allowed to take special non-lab science courses which were not open to science majors ("rocks for jocks', "bits for twits", etc.). Never did think that was quite fair, particularly as all science majors had an additional 12 plus hours of labs which the arts crowd didn't have. The rationale was that the arts crowd had to do more work outside class, but that didn't match the reality as there was always outside work before and after the lab. Actually, really thought an allowable arts course should be along the lines of "report writing for scientists". A fair few of my classmates would have really appreciated that one.

Fast forward a few years, and offsprings who were in the "non-science" track landed at same uni. One took "bits for twits" which was taught by one of my former professors - much amusement all around.
#4 Frances on 2015-10-16 22:16 (Reply)

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