One of the sad and dangerous signs of our times," economist Thomas Sowell wrote in a recent column, "is how many people are enthralled by words, without bothering to look at the realities behind those words. One of those words that many people seldom look behind is 'education.' But education can cover anything from courses on nuclear physics to courses on baton twirling."
He's right. And there are too many "soft courses," Sowell says, "that allow students to spend years in college without becoming educated in any real sense."
I've argued before that taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize courses such as "Pre-College English" and "Spelling and Phonics" (actual courses from Oklahoma college catalogs). Taxpayers have already paid for elementary and secondary education once. Why should they have to pay for it again?
And why should they be forced to subsidize "Badminton," "Principles of Floral Arranging," "Beginning Bowling," "Puppetry I" or "Billiards"? Or, from the current University of Oklahoma catalog: "Star Wars and the Hero's Journey," "Six Years in the Life: The Beatles and the Counterculture," "Disney Dogs and Popular Pets," "Monsters, Mummies, Myths: A Study of Bad Archaeology and Pop Culture," "The Evolution of a Media: Hip Hop Narrative," and "Environmentally Conscious Living"?
This sort of higher education brings to mind former Boston University president John Silber's quip: "Higher than what?"
But at least those courses are merely frivolous. What's worse is "higher education" which is actually harmful, promoting socially destructive ideologies at taxpayer expense. For example, the Gender and Women's Studies program at Oklahoma State University is devoted to "expanding horizons for women and GLBTQ (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgendered or Questioning) individuals." A professor at OU has published academic "research" entitled "Towards Queering Food Studies: Foodways, Heteronormativity, and Hungry Women in Chicana Lesbian Writing."
I can't make this stuff up, folks.
The current OU catalog features courses like "South Park and Stereotypes: TV Racism in the Obama Era," "Jersey Shore-GRC: Depictions of Gender, Race and Class on The Shore," "Sociology of Gender and Sexuality in Media," and "Rough Girls and Sweet Boys: Gender, Personality and Communication."
With courses like this nationwide, it's no wonder that venture capitalist Peter Thiel is offering grants of up to $100,000 for certain talented students to drop out college, or that Forbes.com columnist Jerry Bowyer observes ("The Coming College Education Bubble") that "high education's price-earnings ratio looks like Nevada housing circa 2007."
"We don't need more government 'investment' to produce more of such 'education,'" Sowell says. "Lofty words such as 'investment' should not blind us to the ugly reality of political pork-barrel spending."
--(Dutcher is vice president for policy at the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, a free-market think tank)
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I am the instructor of "Jersey Shore-GRC: Depictions of Gender, Race and Class on the Shore" and I think it's safe to assume that the author of this article is stuck in the current-traditional mode of pedagogy which continues to fail to engage our students. Courses on pop culture help to capture and engage students on socio-cultural issues on their own ground. If they are going to watch shows such as South Park and Jersey Shore isn't it better to have them think about them critically and actively rather than passively?
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If the author had done his due diligence prior to publishing this gibberish, he would have found plenty of substance behind many of the courses he's attacking. While I do agree that bowling and badminton seem a little too frivolous (I never took anything this breezy), students should be able to fill their lower division electives how they choose.
If I'm not mistaken, most all of the courses listed in this article are 2000 or lower. That said, I learned more in 'Star Wars and the Hero's Journey' than I did in a few of my upper division courses. In the class, the professor cleverly used Joseph Campbell's 'Hero Of A Thousand Faces' as a starting point to analyze the creation and trajectory of the heroes in the Star Wars films.
I have since graduated, and it's been over two years since I took this class. However, there are times when I'm reminded of Campbell's works when reading or watching a hero's story unravel. In my opinion, this shows that I learned and retained something worthwhile from the class. I could be wrong, but isn't that the point?
I guess my main critique is that some very legitimate courses have been grouped in with 'Underwater Basket Weaving'. In "Star Wars and the Hero's Journey', I learned some interesting cross cultural similarities in how people create their heroes. In the end, I think that's worth more than honing my ability to pick up the 7-10 split...
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You would be impressed by the quality of some of these classes. Have you ever sat through any of these soft courses? I am guessing that you have not. I have taken a few, and I can tell you that the quality of discussion that went on was far more beneficial to me than either of the economics classes that I took. You should no be so quick to judge. There were students from several disciplines, including fields like business and engineering. College campuses are places of diversity and rightfully so. Everyone attending has different interests which they should be allowed to pursue. Its not like we aren't paying out the wazoo for them anyway. Why shouldn't we be allowed to take them? Most people use courses like this as electives. You can only take so many or they stop counting towards your degree. So why make a big fuss? I don't understand. I also get the hint that you do not feel that members of the GLBTQ community should not be able to expand their horizons. This is sad and I am happy that out country is moving in the right direction, even if you are not.
Is it chilly on The Dark Side? Those guys are usually a little whinny though.
Peace.
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Also, regarding the claim that taxpayers are "forced to subsidize" these classes, a quick internet search (what some people may call fact-checking) reveals that state funding is only 20% of OU's funding.
https://www.oufoundation.org/ouf/faq.aspx#19
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In support of j17564's comment:
I have worked in k-12 education and taught freshman English at OU. The sad reality regarding "Pre-College English" is that there are students who are continually passed through each grade without ever really mastering the fundamental skills to survive at the next level. I have seen high schoolers struggling to read at a 5th grade level, and I have seen college freshmen who literally didn't know how to use a period (though the latter was a small number, it was still too high for the college level). The criticism shouldn't be leveled at the university for providing a stepping stone for those unprepared for the demands of college. Instead, we should look at the issues with Oklahoma's education more holistically and ask why this stepping stone is even necessary.
Also, on a separate issue--the most glaring issue with this article (and there are many...) is the absolute lack of research. It looks like Dutcher spent 5 minutes skimming the OU Intersession catalogue and picked out the silliest names to prove a point. What he doesn't acknowledge is how the intersession system works at OU. If the classes don't fill, they don't get taught. Teachers often use simple and catchy titles--often with pop-culture references--to attract students' attention. But this does not mean there is no substance behind the content of these classes, which often include a great deal of reading from literature and theory. Had Dutcher contacted these instructors for course syllabi he might have a greater understanding of what he's criticizing.
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yeah ok but no college is going to give you a degree for 120 hours of bowling and badminton.
brandon dutcher is a moron
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