<p>My take on this weird event is that it is important to identify the fact that even though the source of the report is considered conservative, the motive for producing this 360-page piece of analysis is based on one person feeling slighted by another. That one person has actually manipulated the social agenda to attempt some kind of retribution, and not really to promote any ideological standpoint, although the promotion will occur secondarily.</p>
<p>From my perspective, if it keeps a few applicants out of Bowdoin’s applicant pool, it will benefit my younger kids who will be applying in just a few months. So it goes.</p>
<p>I was trying to think of conservative points of view that would fit into the subject matter of a college class. My examples will. You don’t like them, so it is your turn – what is an example of a conservative point of view that is being suppressed by liberal colleges in their classes? I don’t think you can find any.</p>
<p>For reference: Listing of 1st year seminars at Bowdoin College from the 2011-12 Catalogue:</p>
<p>010 Europe during the Age of Discovery
011 Memoirs and Memory in American History
012 Intentional Communities in America, 1630-1997
013 Living in the Sixteenth Century
014 Science and Society
015 The Western Experience in American History
016 Globalization and Its Critics
018 Consumer Revolution in the Atlantic World
020 Public Health in Europe and the U.S
022 Gender, Identity, and Society in Europe, 1789-1945
025 The Civil War in Film
026 Globalizing India
060 Introduction to Historical Writing
110 Medieval, Renaissance and Reformation Europe
125 European Jewry
127 Early Modern Europe, Reformation to Revolutions
130 North American Indian History, 1450-Present
139 The Civil War Era
140 War and Society
142 The U.S. since 1945
201 History of Ancient Greece
202 Ancient Rome.
204 Science, Magic and Religion
205 History of the Body
206 War and Society in the Ancient Greek World
215 Making of Modern Europe, 1815-1918
218 History of Russia, 1725-1924
219 Russia’s 20th Century
220 History of the Holocaust
221 History of England, 1485-1688
223 Modern Britain, 1837-1990s
224 Modern Middle East: Palestinian-Israeli Conflict
248 Family and Community in American History, 1600-1900
252 Colonial Latin America
255 Modern Latin America
258 Latin American Revolutions
261 Making of Modern India
262 Africa and the Atlantic World, 1400-1880
263 Politics and Culture in 20th Century India
264 Africa since 1880
265 Mogadishu to Madagascar: East African History
266 History of Mexico
268 Asian American History, 1850-Present
271 European Enlightenment
273 History of Latinos in the U.S.
274 History of the American Revolution
275 Making of Modern China, 1550-Present
276 China’s Origins an Transformations, Prehistory-1550
280 Imperialism, Nationalism, Human Rights
282 India and the Indian Ocean World
283 Origins of Japanese Culture and Civilization
284 Emergence of Modern Japan</p>
<p>Intermediate and Advanced Seminars were not added for fear of carpal tunnel syndrome.</p>
<p>SoCalDad2,
You will learn more in life if you don’t dismiss thought that differs from your own. Is this kind of close-mindedness that you demonstrate prevalent at Bowdoin? I am so grateful that I don’t dismiss others because they differ from me. I hope I’ve taught my children as much. I am a Conservative, and of course I believe in Evolution. The world is not only 6000 years old. And shockingly I am in favor of gay marriage-- my ideas are a little more complex than you would like to admit. I try really hard to learn from people I respect who differ from me. How else will I continue to be a smart and thoughtful person? I think of a education that would be endorsed by a good Conservative would be one that examines the history of Western Civilization, Shakespeare, and the great philosophers that shaped the way we see the world, while also examining different cultural and identity groups today. Open up your mind! We will all benefit!</p>
<p>That sounds an awful lot like what you will get at a “liberal” school like Bowdoin! What is the “conservative” part of the type of education that you favor?</p>
<p>Your personal attack isn’t relevant to the subject of this thread. However, I notice you reject the same ideas I reject. So why am I “close-minded”? Also, being open-minded just means that you will consider all ideas, not that you will accept them.</p>
<p>Ah, it’s good to see that this debate is still alive and well. The hand-wringing over the ‘development of truly broad and global thinking’ vs. ‘Balkanized Identity studies that serve a very narrow political end’ in American education (from primary school to grad school) has been raging for decades. This all brings back good memories of heated, alcohol-enhanced, late-night debates from my now distant grad school years.</p>
<p>It’s a legitimate debate, especially concerning the fate and meaning of the humanities in broader education. The best anti-identity politics salvo ever fired is still Arthur Schlesinger Jr’s short polemic ‘The Disuniting of America.’ He’s hardly a conservative crank (look him up if you don’t know who he is…and shame on you if you don’t). And, I always appreciated Ronald Takaki’s ‘A Different Mirror’ as the most salient counter-punch to Schelsinger’s deft body blow. At any rate, these are issues worth grappling with, and, more importantly, from a College Confidential standpoint, knowing how deeply a prospective institution has embraced one sort of intellectual construction of the humanities vs. another is very worthwhile information for a hopeful student.</p>
<p>Now, if they would only develop a ‘Middle Aged, Irish-American, New Jersey Suburb-Raised, New England Dwelling, Beer-Loving, Post-Academic Studies’ Curriculum I’d finally have an in-road to express my liminal political identity within the tyrannical episteme of American Academia.</p>
<p>For someone who wants a conservative curriculum and a liberal arts education, I would suggest considering St. Johns College in Annapolis MD and Santa Fe, NM. Students read the Western canon, learn geometry from Euclid’s texts, and learn ancient Greek and a modern language. It may seem like a retro-education from the previous century; however, a friend who is an alumnus says that although he has read the great books and learned about the great ideas (mostly Western), it is not the content of his knowledge but rather the training in critical thinking that marked his education. </p>
<p>Although it may seem paradoxical at first, I contend that LACs share the same aim to develop critical thinking among their students. Even though they have few course requirements and allow the students to study or not to study certain disciplines, it is not the content of their education but the critical approach to learning that is most important. This type of education is not “learned” by reading certain books or adhering to a particular curriculum but rather “caught” through interactions with inspiring professors and curious bright students. I also believe that the education presently at most LACs is a humble recognition that the world is much larger, more complex, and cosmopolitan than college students in the 1950s could have ever imagined. It is important to understand other points of view. It also is important to accept the fact that others may not think or act like you do. Understanding diversity and respecting others and their beliefs are essential for being a citizen in the current world. </p>
<p>I am a social conservative and share many of the same values as the authors. Although they claim students at Bowdoin are indoctrinated into a liberal value system, I feel the authors also want to indoctrinate students to their conservative values. I would much prefer students develop the critical thinking skills to accept or reject those values. Unfortunately, the lack of critical thinking among the majority of our citizens has contributed greatly to our inability to reach achievable and meaningful solutions to some of our country’s major problems. There is definitely a place and reason for LACs like Bowdoin.</p>