<p>What particular humanities fields, and what particular examples of hilarious politicization?</p>
<p>poet, fwiw, that was not my experience. From the outside, many saw our residential college as an extremely liberal and closed off place where outside opinions weren’t welcome. Those on the inside knew that couldn’t be further from the truth. We had plenty of professors who took the opposite side in a debate no matter what their personal opinion was. There were only ~50 some people in my graduating class and I know for a fact that at least 10 of them were rather conservative- a higher percentage than my social science degree.</p>
<p>And most of our graduates are gainfully employed or pursuing grad degrees. </p>
<p>YMMV.</p>
<p>Well, I’m glad to hear you had a great experience, Romani. I know my own daughter really enjoyed her major in the arts every bit as much as she enjoyed her major in CS. Now she uses both.</p>
<p>Good luck in grad!</p>
<p>poetgrl: I, along with ucbalumnus and SLACFac, am interested in examples of how students are silenced. My kids and their friends went to a variety of colleges and then graduate programs in the humanities. I now have quite a few “conservative” southern nieces, nephews, cousins studying humanities at a various colleges: public, private, spread out geographically and by “rank.” None of these young people has ever suggested in my hearing they felt silenced. Since they seem to have no filters whatsoever I really think I would have heard.</p>
<p>I’m glad to hear your kids and friends benefitted from their educations so significantly, Ahl. Clearly the joking around around here is just an outlier situation. At any rate, with the rise of the administration class and the end of the tenure track, colleges are clearly in transition. As they always are.</p>
<p>Joking around I have heard. And I have heard kids disagree with the way classes were taught - sometimes too “PC” and sometimes not “PC” enough. They all try to pay attention to professor reviews and course outlines and only take classes they believe they will enjoy. Whenever possible, they drop classes they don’t like. What I haven’t heard is anyone say they felt silenced or unable to express their views in class. They want to understand where the professor is coming from even if they disagree. They are fine with arguing their own point of view. To be fair, none of the kids I know are easily intimidated. They may not be a representative sample.</p>
<p>SLACFac: really excellent posts. Thank you for your perspective.</p>
<p>The kids I know aren’t easily intimidated, most of them just didn’t feel it was worth it. They are bright, not easily indoctrinated, and too busy to bother with the rigamarole. Either you are interesting and dynamic or you are a grade on the way to life.</p>
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<p>Pretty much everyone with a ‘Studies’ appended to the name. :)</p>
<p>Funny… on 9/11, after the towers fell, after we heard about the hijacked passenger planes used as weapons… </p>
<p>College students at my husband’s school went out of their way to seek out their humanities professors - especially in history and philosophy, we noticed - to talk. Students showed up for classes even though officially they didn’t have to - many went to professors’ offices, or stayed after class. Just to talk. To gain some perspective, some comfort. Some… wise insight, maybe?</p>
<p>Two friends, professors in history and philosophy respectively, said the week of 9/11 made for one of the most intense - and gratifying - periods in their teaching careers.</p>
<p>Our friends who taught in the sciences and math didn’t experience this.</p>
<p>That really made me think how we relate to the HUMANities, during crisis.</p>
<p>Yes. And then there were all those "inspirational " and comforting humanities professors who blamed the US for the jihad.</p>
<p>And lost their job because of it.</p>
<p>ALL those-really? I can think of ONE–the prof at U Colorado. </p>
<p>It’s this kind of stuff that really gets me. So if we challenge you on this point–to show that there was a widespread belief among most or even many humanities professors at most or even many institutions of higher ed that ‘blamed’ the US for the attacks–is this what you mean by ‘silencing’, or ‘creating a chilly climate’ for ‘the other opinion’??</p>
<p>So you are allowed to simply assert that there were ‘all those…humanities profs who blamed the US for the jihad’? </p>
<p>There is a difference between an opinion and a belief. An opinion is based on evidence. A belief is not.</p>
<p>skrlvr, yes, I’m sure she’s referring to ONE professor, at Boulder; Ward Churchill made very controversial comments at an east coast university sometime after 9/11. </p>
<p>Ironically, the 9/11 experience I wrote about in post #49 also happened at Boulder. </p>
<p>And no, there was no “widespread belief among most or even many humanities professors” that the US was to blame for 9/11. </p>
<p>But that’s what many conservatives, and anti-intellectuals, would like us to believe.</p>
<p>I generally find poetgrl’s posts very open-minded. I think she is an intellectual. That is why her posts here are so puzzling and perplexing to me. I understand some have a general bias against the academy. I can’t believe that is the case with poetgrl.</p>
<p>poetgrl: I do wish you’d elaborate on some of the ideas you have expressed here.</p>
<p>I am engaging in the time honored role of devils advocate. I am asking people to examine their assumptions. I do this because it is good for everyone to ask themselves the tough questions.</p>
<p>I believe the humanities are falling apart at the undergrad level. I hold the academy responsible for this. I believe defensiveness and overt politicization kills the humanities, regardless of point of view. This IS an old fashioned notion about rigorous intellectualism.</p>
<p>I actually agree IN PART with you, poetgrl, having seen some departments become almost comically politicized. However, I’ve also seen universities step in, bring in new faculty and change the direction of those kinds of departments. It does happen. (Maybe not enough.)</p>
<p>I DISagree with you that humanities are falling apart at the undergrad level. I believe the problem is in grad departments and within the faculty, where there’s too much emphasis on faddish schools of criticism and, yes, politics. </p>
<p>Another assumption that’s often incorrect, is that politicization in academia is prevalent only in the humanities - wrong - and is always of the liberal bent. Wrong again.</p>
<p>First of all, when I was in school, the professors were way too conservative and we had to fight them. So, as I have continually been carefully saying, if you reread my posts, REGARDLESS of point of view. Politicization kills the humanities, which should be about examination. </p>
<p>This is a website that defends free speech in the academy, but isn’t afraid to discuss the opposite.</p>
<p>[Liberal</a> Professors Blame Free Speech for Violence](<a href=“http://collegeinsurrection.com/2012/10/liberal-professors-blame-free-speech-for-violence/]Liberal”>Liberal Professors Blame Free Speech for Violence)</p>
<p>I think the devils advocate role is a useful one. However, in this case, I don’t know what assumptions you are asking us to examine. If you will give me some “tough questions” I will be delighted to attempt to think them through and answer. As it is, I have only the wildest speculations as to what you mean… probably because I am not an intellectual nor very well educated.</p>
<p>On anther thread you and I both pointed out to younger women reading, that the whole thread was political, that some ideas and ways of life are political without being tied to a particular contemporary American political party (or at least that is my memory) … so I really don’t get how you are using “politicization” when you discuss universities.</p>
<p>If you could give some specific examples, that would be extremely helpful to me.</p>
<p>Is it, as bluebayou suggests, an objection to:* Pretty much everyone with a ‘Studies’ appended to the name.*?</p>
<p>edit: okay thanks - you are giving us an example.</p>
<p>I object to the current academic trend of presenting political opinion and politically motivated criticism as “fact,” without presenting historical context and ways to examine the critique, as well. Teaching how to question and ways to question is different than indoctrination.</p>