tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4058766287077382431.post8836156929212537989..comments2024-03-23T04:01:39.348-04:00Comments on Understanding Society: What is the good of a university education?Dan Littlehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15953897221283103880noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4058766287077382431.post-30638504848885806722012-08-07T15:55:29.476-04:002012-08-07T15:55:29.476-04:00There is value to our society when students receiv...There is value to our society when students receive a humanities education, but who shall pay for that education? Currently, students (and their families) pay dearly for a college education in the U.S. Therefore, return on investment must accrue to them. If society wants some of that return, in the form of more actively engaged citizens, then let the public pay for a larger portion of higher education tuition. As its stands now, college presidents are responding to the market. The more interesting thing to note is that tuition growth has been higher than income growth for college graduates. Many schools around the U.S. have shiny, new buildings and the like, all at the expense of students who, from a ROI perspective, are fairing much worse than earlier generations.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4058766287077382431.post-67904290581103389102012-08-06T19:35:09.973-04:002012-08-06T19:35:09.973-04:00There's a remarkable piece on the value of the...There's a remarkable piece on the value of the humanities by Elaine Scarry in the recent Boston Review. h/t 3quarksdaily.comRakesh Bhandarinoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4058766287077382431.post-522205189040035652012-08-06T15:23:31.693-04:002012-08-06T15:23:31.693-04:00We can agree with most of Ms. Nussbaum's posit...We can agree with most of Ms. Nussbaum's positions and still lament the current state of modern education, especially the social sciences, where in general they do little or nothing to advocate independent thought.<br /><br />More foundationally, the argument can be quite easily made that education's current structure promotes emotional immaturity, passiveness, kills creativity, and does little or nothing to nurture discipline, group cohesiveness, instigation, convincing public oratory, or critical and logical thought. All at horrific cost while it delays entry into society.<br /><br />It is time to begin again. The bureaucracy is out of control. And the phrases, "social justice" and "create citizens" scare me.Jimhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15550269527485574418noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4058766287077382431.post-74730466247502920832012-08-06T13:32:25.058-04:002012-08-06T13:32:25.058-04:00Daniel,
I'm currently at work where the syste...Daniel,<br /><br />I'm currently at work where the system allows online shopping but blocks blogs, so I'm at a bit of a disadvantage. That commerce is preferred and idea exchanges are forbidden here is another topic.<br /><br />I understand the value of a liberal education, but I don't think this is a preference that can be driven down towards students. If I believe that I can have a comfortable life, I'm interested in becoming a more capacious person through an education that emphasizes ideas and critical thinking. If it means low wage work and limited opportunity then show me the keys to the vault and I'll read on my own time.<br /><br />Sent from my iPhoneAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4058766287077382431.post-13713646008185553252012-08-06T10:27:13.227-04:002012-08-06T10:27:13.227-04:00if nusbaum were really that good, her words would ...if nusbaum were really that good, her words would speak for themselves, wihtout the sycohantic intro<br />1st rule, ya gotta tell people how good they are, they either ain't that good or can't writeAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com