Civility and diversity
2004; National Association of Scholars; Volume: 17; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1007/s12129-004-1044-z
ISSN1936-4709
Autores Tópico(s)Global Education and Multiculturalism
ResumoW hcen the National Association of Scholars p roposed Should Educa t ion ivilize? as the topic for this symposium, I cou ldn ' t he lp c o m p a r i n g it to the coy theor iz ing and hyper-earnest cri t ique that domina te the conversations at the English Institute, the Amer ican Studies Association, and the rest. Such a b lunt and basic quest ion is a pleasure to address. It goes against the cus tomary training of s tudents and the professionalization of faculty, particularly in the humanit ies . In depa r tmen t s o f l i terature and in various studies programs, the terms are m o r e than i g n o r e d t h e y ' r e suspect. Civilized has a colonialist ring, and so when it appears at all it is writ ten in sneerquotes and u t te red with sarcasm. Education, too, is a rarity, at least a m o n g humani t i es professors who long ago cut themselves o f f f r o m f reshman composi t ion and sophom o r e surveys, no t to say the K-12 universe. Ment ion education at an MLA panel and it will fast be translated into discipline and power, or social just ice, or theory and critical thinking. Those knowing conversions may have been exposed for years as hollow i r reverence, but g radua te s tudents and assistant professors still pick them up as mores o f the profession. This is how e x p e r i e n c e d educators act, they assume, by disdaining the old ideals of educat ion . The dismissal of civilized values is now a mat te r of professional et iquette . So it is a rel ief to f ind a venue in which one can pose such quest ions wi thout violating protocol. And it is mighty tempt ing to p roceed with an out l ine o f educa t ion that ignores the degradat ions of the academy. Why bo the r with the warped historicism of cultural studies, the sophomor ic epis temology of critical theory, the politics-is-everything cynicism of adversarial critics, and the liberal guilt o f admissions offices? Why no t jus t a f f i rm e rud i t ion , aes the t ic exper ience , religious traditions, the historical sense, scientific m e t h o d , h igh culture, and o the r e lements o f an en l igh t ened educat ion? Because things are too bad to ignore. Progressives and identi ty politicians control h igher educa t ion and will as far into the fu ture as one can see. Insulated on campus and t enu red beyond accountability, they have no incent ive to change, and s u r r o u n d e d by captive s tudents and l ike-minded colleagues, they have no reason to. They swept into depa r tmen t s and adminis t ra t ions in the 1970s and 1980s in a wave of Leftist enthusiasms and nihilistic theory, thinking to ex tend the activism and expe r imen ta t i on o f the 1960s into classroom
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