These are actual classes offered by colleges

[A Nonny Moose]

From here comes a list of classes offered at colleges. Please forgive the cut/paste nature of this post, but it's just so odd that my words can't describe it:

 

1. A mandatory course for some freshmen is "The Unbearable Whiteness of Barbie." It's a course where Professor Elizabeth J. Chin explores ways in "which scientific racism has been put to use in the making of Barbie [and] to an interpretation of the film 'The Matrix' as a Marxist critique of capitalism."

 

2. "Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n' Roll in Ancient Egypt." Part of the course includes slide shows of women in ancient Egypt "vomiting on each other," "having intercourse" and "fixing their hair."

 

3. "Marxist Concepts of Racism," which examines "the role of capitalist development and expansion in creating racial inequality."

 

Now couple that with some more interesting facts from there:

 

1. A survey conducted by the Center for Survey Research and Analysis at the University of Connecticut gave 81 percent of the seniors a D or F in their knowledge of American history. The students could not identify Valley Forge, or words from the Gettysburg Address, or even the basic principles of the U.S. Constitution. A survey released by the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum found that American adults could more readily identify Simpson cartoon characters than name freedoms guaranteed in the First Amendment.

 

2. Harvard's Educational Policy Committee found that some professors award A's for average work. 91 percent of Harvard seniors graduated with honors, that means all A's and a few B's (I wonder why...)

 

3. According to the Department of Education's 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy, only 31 percent of college graduates were proficient in prose, only 25 percent proficient in reading documents and 31 percent proficient in math.

 

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE

 

1. Nearly every survey says Americans aged 18 to 24 have absolutely no idea what is going on?

 

2. 63% of that age group cannot find Iraq (you know that country they're protesting action against) on a map?

 

3. 80% of Americans don't have a world map? Guess Google Maps is just so much faster to load up than it is to open a map *irony*

 

4. 90% cannot find Afghanistan on the map?

 

5. 25% of that age group don't know that {censored} Cheney is the vice president!

 

6. 64% of young Americans can name the American Idol winners. Guess there is one shining moment for our younger generation *irony*

 

7. 90% of them cannot identify the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

 

I like the idea that Walter Williams has in appointing an ombudsman for our educational establishment, but there are problems with that. First off, Boards of Education seem to think they are infallible, and why do they need someone to point out they are wrong when they are never wrong (kinda like the Pope)? Secondly, that costs money, and where is this money coming from? I could dare say it could come from reducing administrative salaries (maybe even making them performance based), but that's a sacred cow in the education world.

 

So why on earth are loony people like this allowed to teach students without impunity?

[killbot1000]

So why on earth are loony people like this allowed to teach students without impunity?

 

 

I happen to fall in that age group...and I think the problem is that when people are young...theyre just...stupid heheh, im sure the situation will remedy itself in the future though, atleast...hopefully, im glad to find out that I know the answers to most of those questions...except the american idol one heheh

 

 

also, I have not even seen those classes as "required". What state are you talking about? In washington we have GURs that can be any number of classes, but none as wierd as those heheh.

[Apple Freak]

Man that's sad and next 2 years, I am in one of them : (

[fireshark]

TIME did this thing on where this college class taght about porn and it effects...

[Swad]

I think it's a shame, to be honest. Whatever happen to Latin, Milton, Plato, Shakespeare (no, the movies don't count)?

 

And, as that article points out, college faculty are overwhelmingly liberal, sometimes to the point of absurdity. Now my political views don't fit nicely into either camp, but it does anger me that a "tolerant" campus like mine is only tolerant to views from the left.

 

Can that be real education?

[killbot1000]

I think it's a shame, to be honest. Whatever happen to Latin, Milton, Plato, Shakespeare (no, the movies don't count)?

 

And, as that article points out, college faculty are overwhelmingly liberal, sometimes to the point of absurdity. Now my political views don't fit nicely into either camp, but it does anger me that a "tolerant" campus like mine is only tolerant to views from the left.

 

Can that be real education?

 

I really dont know what all you guys are talking about, Ive read all those people at the top in my college experience, and, usually in my classes there will be bitter debate over issues, and its quite fun, the teacher will usually try to remain impartial, but they are usually liberal, I dunno, atleast the campus I go to seems pretty tolerant to me...

[jgrimes80]

[EDITED OUT/MODIFIED in response to "A Nonny Moose"] My sincerest apologies... long story short

 

I don't care for Bill O'Rielly or Fox

 

 

@ Mash, where else to you get a liberal perspective on anything? No where... having a dominantly liberal politics/history/social science classes helps counter a proven institutionalized knowledge of the world found in just about everyone. Because right-winged media is pretty much everywhere... why would a teacher want to teach something students already know...

 

In addition, having a radically leftist professor does more because they generally counter mainstream thought... it teaches students to question their own thoughts, and everyone else around them. The result is a group of people who are much more socially aware, significantly more independent thinkers, and more open-minded. I went into these classes PO'd but these are the ones I learned the most in. Hindsight's 20/20....

 

To better explain what I mean...

 

Conserative (right-wing)- The Iraq war was justified because Saddam violated multiple international laws in regards to nuclear material... Saddam repeatedly refused to allow UN inspectors to perform their duties. Not to mention his crimes against humanity... Iraq was in need of liberation.

 

Liberal (left-wing)- The US knocked down a democratic Iraq and placed Saddam in power... based on "Project for a New American Century" it's endorsers, and the folks in the White at the time of invasion, it's rather peculiar find... wait... now we have a presence in Iraq, Afghanistan, Isreal, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia... Why did America divert is military to securing oil fields before villagers? Why was Centcom deployed at all if America's intentions were humanitarian? WAIT WAIT... what's this? New research indicating that Iraq is sitting on 3x as much oil as Iran......

 

With a few exceptions, a "liberal" view is usually more complete. Most "liberal" perspectives are frowned upon because they are different. They challenge what people believe to be true and more often than not, are deemed outcasts. There once was a person who said the world was round and not the center of the universe... liberal at the time... I'd say so. Wrong? Hell no!

 

Conservatism is about keeping things the same, or reversing time... if things don't change, they can't get better... I hope I spelled that out okay.

 

-Note- I'm by no means a leftist... simply an advocator of the truth from multiple perspectives. Bearing in mind that typical people don't rant about politics, indulge in politicized books/dissertations/movies, I'll probably be deemed one before a conservative... big suprise

[A Nonny Moose]

*edited by me because the issue has been resolved*

[bwhsh8r]

I think it's a shame, to be honest. Whatever happen to Latin, Milton, Plato, Shakespeare (no, the movies don't count)?

 

And, as that article points out, college faculty are overwhelmingly liberal, sometimes to the point of absurdity. Now my political views don't fit nicely into either camp, but it does anger me that a "tolerant" campus like mine is only tolerant to views from the left.

 

Can that be real education?

 

naw, and im in highschool and we had to read those, sacrities (probly spelled wrong) along with the lord of the flies and a seperate peace.... oh, and as far as im concerned latin is worthless cause its dead, thats why i had to take spanish...

 

and no that cant be real education

 

max

[Conroe Mac]

Haha, oh boy. We've got a crotchety and credulous old-timer here. My favorite part of this article is how the writer says, "I doubt whether these "honor" students could pass a 1950 high school graduation examination." I bet they couldn't walk uphill both ways in the snow either!

 

 

Where do they get this {censored}?

1. A mandatory course for some freshmen is "The Unbearable Whiteness of Barbie." It's a course where Professor Elizabeth J. Chin explores ways in "which scientific racism has been put to use in the making of Barbie [and] to an interpretation of the film 'The Matrix' as a Marxist critique of capitalism."

Well, I don't think I'd call it "scientific racism." I think it's more like the plain old garden variety.

 

2. "Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n' Roll in Ancient Egypt." Part of the course includes slide shows of women in ancient Egypt "vomiting on each other," "having intercourse" and "fixing their hair."

How do they know this? Are these people taking the courses or getting information from disgruntled students? Even though slides are pretty archaic, I don't think they had them in ancient Egypt.... don't tell me they show slides of Egyptian women fixing their hair, that's just naughty!

3. "Marxist Concepts of Racism," which examines "the role of capitalist development and expansion in creating racial inequality."

Okay, we're arguing that modern learners are simplistic, but understanding a Marxist application of racial inequality isn't exactly an argument that students aren't learning anything. Is the argument that kids are dumb, teachers are bad, or schools are liberal?

1. A survey conducted by the Center for Survey Research and Analysis at the University of Connecticut gave 81 percent of the seniors a D or F in their knowledge of American history. The students could not identify Valley Forge, or words from the Gettysburg Address, or even the basic principles of the U.S. Constitution. A survey released by the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum found that American adults could more readily identify Simpson cartoon characters than name freedoms guaranteed in the First Amendment.

What was on the test? Compare the numbers to the general American populace and I think you'd find that college students are less stupid. The argument here is that college students don't know much, but you'd find that old timers know just as little or less.

2. Harvard's Educational Policy Committee found that some professors award A's for average work. 91 percent of Harvard seniors graduated with honors, that means all A's and a few B's (I wonder why...)

Harvard must be really easy. I should have gone there so I could slack off.

3. According to the Department of Education's 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy, only 31 percent of college graduates were proficient in prose, only 25 percent proficient in reading documents and 31 percent proficient in math.

Proficiency. What is proficient? You're telling me that 75% of the adult population can't read documents? That's funny, because I don't know a single adult that can't read. Where are all these invisible people?

 

Proficiency is such an easy word to ease into a meaningless statistic. Let's see. Since I've taken such fun classes as hyperbolic geometry, multivariable calculus, and set theory, I'd say that 31% proficiency level in math is much too high. If you don't know a derivative from an integral, you're not proficient!

1. Nearly every survey says Americans aged 18 to 24 have absolutely no idea what is going on?

It would be easier to make convincing specious claims if you quoted a survey or something instead of just spewing the propaganda forthright....

2. 63% of that age group cannot find Iraq (you know that country they're protesting action against) on a map?

Sadly, that's probably true. The numbers would be even higher for older generations though.

3. 80% of Americans don't have a world map? Guess Google Maps is just so much faster to load up than it is to open a map *irony*

Okay, are we still talking about education or now we're talking about all of America is pathetic? I'm lost on what is being proven.

5. 25% of that age group don't know that {censored} Cheney is the vice president!

I didn't know he wasn't president!

 

 

I like the idea that Walter Williams has in appointing an ombudsman for our educational establishment, but there are problems with that. First off, Boards of Education seem to think they are infallible, and why do they need someone to point out they are wrong when they are never wrong (kinda like the Pope)? Secondly, that costs money, and where is this money coming from? I could dare say it could come from reducing administrative salaries (maybe even making them performance based), but that's a sacred cow in the education world.

 

So why on earth are loony people like this allowed to teach students without impunity?

 

You're talking about boards of education, then indicting teachers? Which is it? Are you talking about college? Colleges and universities are completely different from high schools... I don't understand any concise argument here other than a poorly focused geriatric diatribe.

 

Perhaps you could have benefitted from someone that made you think a little differently. When you think while you read, you don't believe ridiculous bs like this. Internet editorials aren't a great place to learn facts about education.

[jgrimes80]

@ Conroe Mac - The survey was done by FOX NEWS... and presented by *ahem* Bill O'Reilly

 

No need to discredit it; it's understood.

[SenVa]

1. Nearly every survey says Americans aged 18 to 24 have absolutely no idea what is going on?

 

2. 63% of that age group cannot find Iraq (you know that country they're protesting action against) on a map?

 

3. 80% of Americans don't have a world map? Guess Google Maps is just so much faster to load up than it is to open a map *irony*

 

4. 90% cannot find Afghanistan on the map?

 

5. 25% of that age group don't know that {censored} Cheney is the vice president!

 

6. 64% of young Americans can name the American Idol winners. Guess there is one shining moment for our younger generation *irony*

 

7. 90% of them cannot identify the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

 

I find these really hard to believe... I'm 2 years away from being in this age group, but I seem to know all of these but 6 (I would need to google that one). I don't know anyone in my age group that couldn't answer most if not all of these questions. I'm not really smart I don't read newspapers or watch the news, unless you count the dailyshow (but i dont watch that often).

 

I doubt people get dumber in 2 years... but that would be the only way these stats could be true.

[altaskier11]

2. "Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n' Roll in Ancient Egypt." Part of the course includes slide shows of women in ancient Egypt "vomiting on each other," "having intercourse" and "fixing their hair."

I could see how this would have academic merit, many classes examine past cultures through a more modern viewpoint. The name could be an attempt to make the course more appealing, it really just seems to be an analyzation of Vice in ancient Egypt.

 

 

3. "Marxist Concepts of Racism," which examines "the role of capitalist development and expansion in creating racial inequality."

Those lists you posted seem to have something out for Marxism which, at least in theory, is a much more prefect system than Capitalism. As to the topic material, Capitalism does nothing to discourage racial inequality; when it came about whites were in power and whites are still in power today.

 

 

7. 90% of them cannot identify the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

There is no reason to know that Dennis Hastert is the Speaker of the House. What has he done? If he was influential in politics, his would be a household name.

 

 

-------------------------

 

I find these really hard to believe... I'm 2 years away from being in this age group, but I seem to know all of these but 6 (I would need to google that one). I don't know anyone in my age group that couldn't answer most if not all of these questions. I'm not really smart I don't read newspapers or watch the news, unless you count the dailyshow (but i dont watch that often).

 

I doubt people get dumber in 2 years... but that would be the only way these stats could be true.

Its not that people entering that age bracket get dumber, they just don't pay attention to current events. Its not stupidity which is being recorded here, its ignorance.

[Conroe Mac]

Bill O'Reilly.

 

I can't beleive that guy is so popular. Then again, so is that idiot Michael Moore. Makes you wonder what sells more, sensationalism or sex?

[killbot1000]

all I have to say is that college is fun, and if the highschools in this country were ran alot more like colleges (minus the tuition costs), I think wed be in a much better situation

[Eric C]

Yeah High School has become rediculously easy. They don't teach you anything of real importance, it's just regurgitation of facts. I think I've learned more in my first two years of college then in all of high school.

 

But if high school was run like college half the US population would be dead due to alcohol poisoning. lol