The Gun Counter

Read it and weep…

With the way dead white males get vilified nowadays, it almost makes me afraid to die. And with the way true education is being killed off, you may be afraid to send your kids to school.

A generation ago we heard the chant, “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Western culture’s gotta go!” And it’s going, alright. One of the more recent casualties was the University of California at Los Angeles’ humanities program, which until 2011 was one of the last bastions of traditional Western scholarship in the humanities. Rick Moran at American Thinker recently covered this, and quoting a Wall Street Journal piece he writes:

Where previously, undergrads would have to take one course studying Chaucer, 2 for Shakespeare, and one on Milton, a "revolt" by junior faculty forced "a mandate that all English majors take a total of three courses in the following four areas: Gender, Race, Ethnicity, Disability and Sexuality Studies; Imperial, Transnational, and Postcolonial Studies; genre studies, interdisciplinary studies, and critical theory; or creative writing."

Read the whole thing…


I Is EDUMAKATED!

Meh, it's long been the joke in many places that the phrase most used by a baccalaureate humanities major is "Do you want fries with that?" It surprises me that the degree program requires a critical thinking course. In my experience most of them are unable to critically think.

At this stage of my career, I am blessed with a job that requires me only to be there. Simply showing up is 95% of my job, and I don't work for the people I protect. So, being the bright, inquisitive guy that I am, I watch what's going on around me, and talk to people about things outside their area of expertise. I work around a bunch of highly educated people with sterling credentials and most of them are complete and total dumbasses. I myself, with sterling credentials and vast experience in my field, understand that I don't know about a lot of things, and I have plenty of time during the day, so I carry a laptop computer with me and study things that interest me during the day. One day, the superintendent was walking through and asked about what I was so totally focused on, on the screeen. "Particle physics". I replied.

He looked over my shoulder. "Just Damnit, boy. You really are studying."

But I get your point. It's gotten to the point where a humanities degree, in and of itself, is basically worthless. The market recognizes the worth of the degree and values it appropriately. The more damning indictment of the higher education bubble is that many of these graduates come out of college with basically worthless degrees and staggering education debt. They might be able to get a jon with a pauper's salary and the equivalent of a mortgage payment each month that is not dischargeable in a bankruptcy. Many humanities graduates are in a disastrous financial situation. They've been sold a bill of goods, and they're stuck with it. Instapundit has been highlighting articles about the Higher Education Bubble, and simply scrolling through his posts will give a good background on the state of higher ed in the US.

Promises that can't be kept, won't. What can't go on forever, won't.

PawPaw wrote: It surprises me that the degree program requires a critical thinking course. In my experience most of them are unable to critically think.

To someone that uses terms like "Transnational" and "Post Colonial" "critical thinking" isn't what you or I would assume.

In that context they really mean the ability to "deconstruct" thought according to a "post modern" (i.e. Marxist/Statist) viewpoint and come up with something that is Double Plus Good Newspeak. Oh, and proves that everyone opposing them are racist.

Many moons ago I had to take Race Relations as part of my Criminology minor. It was taught by a guilt-ridden white hippie woman who perceived racism in everything she saw.

One day, she brought in a picture of a Marine recruitment poster that showed a black Marine holding a sword while mounted on a white horse. She interpreted this to mean the black man was seduced to betray his colored brethren by joining forces with the white horse which represented the evil white male patriarchal establishment. Many a young mushhead nodded in agreement. I raised my hand and asked, "Are you serious?" Oh, she was. Needless to say, I got a less than stellar grade in that class.

I remember the race relations class I had to attend during NCO Basic course. The idiot got up there and talked about Black History Month, Hispanic History Month, etc. One guy then piped up and said "I'm Scotch, when's my month?" Needless to say, the civilian instructor almost ended up crying.

True Story-

Once upon a time a young man went to Ohio State to get an engineering degree. They force the freshmen at that time to take a series of classes called "UVC" which is "University College" which is a how to go to college course, focusing on diversity and inclusionism and all that jazz.

One exercise was we had to stand up and introduce ourselves and give our ethnicity and age.
I announced I was Swedish. This one girl says "Eww, the Vikings might have raped my ancestors!"
Without missing a beat, "Maybe, my ancestors raped and pillaged a lot of people."
Had to stay after lecture. Wound up changing sessions.

evan price wrote:True Story-

Once upon a time a young man went to Ohio State to get an engineering degree. They force the freshmen at that time to take a series of classes called "UVC" which is "University College" which is a how to go to college course, focusing on diversity and inclusionism and all that jazz.

One exercise was we had to stand up and introduce ourselves and give our ethnicity and age.
I announced I was Swedish. This one girl says "Eww, the Vikings might have raped my ancestors!"
Without missing a beat, "Maybe, my ancestors raped and pillaged a lot of people."
Had to stay after lecture. Wound up changing sessions.

BRAVO!!!! LOL!!

Outstanding! I had one of those in my section. A smug, T and all A's type from Columbus, OH. We referred to her as The Buckeye Bitch. Smh...

There are only about two reasons to go to college to get an undergraduate humanities degree.
Hillsdale College
Thomas Aquinas College
(There are perhaps a dozen, tops, excellent and worthwhile Christian liberal arts colleges that fall in similar territory, but they are not for those of secular bent.)

Getting an undergraduate English degree from UCLA ranks right up there with getting an English degree from DeVry University, or learning medicine online from University of Phoenix. The simply wouldn't know anything about it if you hit them with it in the face as if you were hefting a dead mackerel.
Post-graduate degrees at UC are another matter, and having the Huntington Library nearby in San Marino makes for some fascinating and worthwhile graduate research into Shakespeare, Chaucer, Milton, etc. With first edition folios, no less, once you're properly accredited for access.

Dear Daughter #2 is going the Theater major route, BUT...

a) with no debt, pay as you go in state schools
b) with clear understanding she'll need to find a way to make a living (has a base of housecleaning clients now that she works on the side.I have a good friend who's a Director over several $100M in industrial sales who wants her to come into her inside sales team and learn it from ground up when she's ready).
and
c) with my encouragement, nay exhortation, to do this course of study. Of course, this is inspite of every vo-tech/engineering fiber in my being screaming in protest.
Hey though, when you are born with the instrument and stage presence she has, and have the luxury of developing it (thanks to daddy), will do the hard work and take the task seriously, as a washed up musician
d) Theater is a long way from the military _but_ short of the military it's hard to find a field at a young age that requires more collaboration, adjusting to working within changing teams and ability to adapt. Also, lots of opportunity early in life to organize and lead. IOW, transferable lifeskills. The head of her dept see's her as professional stage mgr potential and is looking for intern work for her around town in live theater. A good stage mgrs willmake the best and most consistent money in live theater.

Yeah, it's "humanities" but it's no a cakewalk. She's finishing her associates this term with all the CSU GE units for transfer. Over 90 units and a 3.8-ish GPA just to get clear of the CC.
The last 3 terms in a row she has needed a waiver to be allowed to enroll in over 18 units. It's not a trivial task. Lot of overlapping rehearsal and performance classes with long days, very real competition for roles and competition inclusion in vocal groups and lots of live performance rqmts.