Conservatives want to take university education backward, proposing Western-centric curriculum based on the classics and the "triumphs" of America's history.
Financial backers of the initiative believe that universities have been corrupted by upsetting liberal ideas such as multiculturalism and America's history of oppression.
In institutions structured around the concept that it's all about You--your choices, your interests, your talents, your career--a focus on the rest of the world provides some balance. I consider it unfortunate that only the Honors section of Humanities here at Aquinas incorporates a variety of non-Western literature. College should broaden one's perspective, not narrow it.
Universities shouldn't be about spoon-feeding students an ideology--conservative, liberal, or otherwise. My favorite class at Aquinas so far has been Doc Durham's "World in Crisis," an intro to international relations I took during my first semester here. Although Doc's views are evident during his lectures through the material he selects, the books he assigns, and the direction in which he steers discussion, his most important lesson to students is to think critically. He challenges students to question everything he says and to research their own views.
To me, that's more education than any reading list can offer.
(more info in today's edition of the Press or at
the NY Times online)
