Universidade em crítica

There is a third alternative: *real* education of the sort that provides solid critical thinking skills, enables students to understand the foundations of civilization or their soci...ety & their place in it (subjects including history, philosophy, literature, etc.), gives them a foundation for participating in ongoing conversations about values: whether there are transcendent values on which to base a moral point of view, or just the survival values of the marketplace, & finally enables them to offer sound diagnoses of its problems & suggest constructive solutions. This alternative is ignored in the shouting match over the future of higher education, or education generally, as this kind of debate needs to have been raised in the student's mind well before they leave high school. It includes their ability to appreciate the experiences of others & opinions other than their own even if they disagree.

One might think that if there is justice in the universe, colleges & universities will rue the decision to kick conservatives off campuses, marginalize them & their works, & now demonize them as "fascists" (a word that used to mean something), or libel them as "white supremacists," "neo-Nazis," etc. After all, conservatives out in the real world vote; some have money; some run for public office; some are in positions of influence, where they can wield the axes being taken to public funding for colleges & universities (many times correctly) perceived as ideological echo chambers, havens for out-of-touch elites (& their children), or playgrounds for the identity politics of the week ... in any event, literally *stealing* from students via outrageous tuition much of which finds its way into the coffers of bloated administrations whose own wasteful projects are legion.
Beth, do you agree? Jack, what do you think? Douglas, Aeon, wondering about you guys whom I haven't seen nor heard from in ages. Other higher education watchers, or anyone else who cares?

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'Elitists, crybabies and junky degrees': Educators see growing disdain for universities

Educators say changing attitudes undermine their mission while making colleges less accessible to poorer students.

chicagotribune.com