— Which, predictably, is a euphemism for “adopting progressive positions” — and proscribing conservative thought in the process as necessarily unethical.
Unethical thought, it follows, is hateful — the practical effect of which will be that it is just, from an “ethical” standpoint, to remove conservative positions from the marketplace of ideas, ostensibly to avoid giving offense to those who are responsible for determining “hate” (or “extremism”): the serially uncomfortable, the (actually) intolerant, the intellectually doctrinaire and/or incurious… the “interpreter” to whom we have ceded the control meaning…
But no worries. Remember, conservative thought is a malady of the limbic brain and thus can be treated once identified. Think Jack Nicholson at the end of Cuckoo’s Nest.
Oh, brave new world, that has such ethical speech guardians in it…!
Gah. Pass the soma.
(h/t Brian L)
****
update: Wow.
They were smart in that they made these courses honors courses. Students in honors courses tend on the whole to parrot back what an instructor tells them.
This is a new liberal leader factory.
I get it! Like if you’re pro-life, you’re now racist!
Link?
fixed
I think Vera Mark is bogarting the bong.
This one bothers me:
But I’m a fan of the Repairman Jack books, so any mention of “Otherness” raises my hackles.
This sounds a place where they can produce Nishi’s.
Some faculty somewhere ought to promote a Dishonors curriculum, maybe starting with serious study of Aristotle’s Nichomachean Ethics, moving eventually on to A. Smith’s ToMS, stopping off somewhere in the middle to talk with Augustine of Hippo for a couple of weeks.
Why do I think that if Charles Martel is mentioned, it won’t be in a favorable light?
They should just name these classes The Narrative and get it over with.
You’ll get Toni Morrison and like it!
From the article:
“– Zaryab Iqbal, assistant professor of political science, will blend ethics into her political science course Tyranny and Genocide. “Tens of millions of people were killed by tyrannical regimes in the twentieth century, through genocides, massacres, ethnic cleansings, and other crimes against humanity.…a major goal of this course is to examine the ethical questions surrounding indiscriminate use of force against civilians in violent conflicts, and to incorporate those ethical considerations into policy prescriptions for managing and resolving conflicts,” she notes.”
So Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Pol Pot and a host of minor reactionary leftist deities will be placed under the microscope?
I see the comments section of FreeRepublic is as stupid as ever.
Comment by leigh on 5/6 @ 12:07 pm #
Lucianne was always so much better as a news site.
Which is why I’m mildly amused when I’m accused of being a “freeper”.
…a major goal of this course is to examine the ethical questions surrounding indiscriminate use of force against civilians in violent conflicts, and to incorporate those ethical considerations into policy prescriptions for managing and resolving conflicts,
Ooh. They can start with the latest massacre of innocents by the Obama admin in Afghanistan. Timely.
I will take your Toni Morrison and raise you one Cornell West whose crap I was forced to read in my “American Political Thought” class right alongside Thomas Paine. A true genius Mr. Cornell is.
Maybe these leftists can define “ethical”? As in, please define ethical, Nancy Tuana. All I know is that our resident trolls can’t define liberalism, so one must start someplace.
So start already. That ending part we know already.
Ward Churchill is going to teach a class on “Pretending to be an Indian in Service to Otherness and Other Ethical Considerations of a Flaming Loon Waffle: Redefined.”
It’s being offered at The San Francisco Race Free College and Liberation Ecology Center.
Patchouli and incense included with your tuition.
“ethical questions surrounding indiscriminate use of force against civilians in violent conflicts, and to incorporate those ethical considerations into policy prescriptions for managing and resolving conflicts”
Item one: push the Jews into the sea.
It seems incumbent upon Obama to nationalize a boot company or two and issue us each a pair.
It’s really starting to pile up.
Ward Churchill is going to teach a class on “Pretending to be an Indian
Students must provide their own whiskey.
.
.
sorry Iron Eyes.
But this won’t affect the quality of education in the US, will it? I mean, our schools will still be the source of productive, knowledgeable citizens that a growing economy needs, right?
Shouldn’t that read “firewater”?
Ok, I denounce myself: Bad poster! Bad!
Shouldn’t that read “firewater�
I stand corrected pale-face.
*single tear*
“Where is he? Spill!”
“I can’t! He’ll kill me!”
“What the fuck do you think I’m gonna do to ya, genius? Worry about me.”
In exchange for each faculty fellow’s participation, the fellow’s department will receive $4000 to enable the fellow to purchase a course release. That course release is intended to give faculty fellows time to redesign and develop their ethics-enhanced Honors course.*
I think the whole dealio gets undercut a bit when you have to bribe people to participate in your ethics seminar.
The Cuckoo’s Nest reference does an unkindness to Nurse Ratched et al. I mean, you can tell, and you remember, who she is.
The hive is hive-y.
I don’t know what book it was, because they’re all the same one, but there was one of hers where there’s, like, a hallucinatory journey or some shit? Whatever. When I read it — was told to — it strikingly reminded me, technique-wise, of a specific bit from Lovecraft, which reminder was, I thought, odd, considering. So when I wrote about the book — was told to — I put a little observation in there about this striking Lovecraftian technical likeness and how, in a way I don’t remember anymore, it was a thematic problem, maybe, a text-failure, since the book was about…whatever. Not fops and space squids.
It turned red.
Because I hadn’t been told it.
Wow. Long.
I loved Tar Baby. My first year of college I gave it to the lesbian I was dating and she loved it too. College got better later on when things got sorted out better.
Beloved is an okay novel. She’s rewritten it now 5 times. Cthulhu is pleased.
Beloved was the dead baby ghost one or whatever, right? I never got through it. I think I left the woman birthing her baby in a ditch or something and then crawling through mud. Can’t remember. I liked Poltergeist more better – that was spooky how JoBeth turned around and all the chairs were stacked crazy. JoBeth is a Texan I bet you didn’t know that.
They were smart in that they made these courses honors courses. Students in honors courses tend on the whole to parrot back what an instructor tells them.
Not all of us. Yes, we’re talking about the honors program I attended in the early 90s. But then, I studied Physics, which doesn’t have quite as room for political correctness as the “{placeholder} Studies” programs. (Newton’s status as Dead White Male notwithstanding.)
In defense of the alma mater, I’ll posit that a couple of those look like valid questions to explore in the 21st century. That is, as long as they don’t devolve into “Fauxtography is peachy!” and “The darkies will take their medicine and like it!” The others look hopeless, but I daresay that those choosing to take Grievance Studies 204H won’t be any worse off than if they’d taken plain vanilla* Grievance Studies 204.
And if I may be perfectly honest for a moment: I want Zaryab Iqbal’s job. I mean, c’mon — the ethical dimension of genocide? Makes a cake walk look like heavy exertion!
In any case, I think a phone call to my old adviser might be in order.
* Racist!
This song right here signaled the death of ethics in Western Civilization:
And the sign said “anybody caught trespassing would be shot on sight”
So I jumped on the fence and I yelled at the house
“Hey, what gives you the right?
To put up a fence to keep me out or to keep Mother Nature in
If God was here, he’d tell it to your face
Man, you’re some kind of sinner”
Breaking my back to keep this hardscrabble piece of dirt going through drought, flood, broken equipment, sky-high feed prices, disastrously low cattle prices, mortgage up to my ass, five dollar diesel fuel, trespassers trashing the place. . . that’s what gives me the right.
Get off my fence, ya goddamned hippie.
At the risk of flogging a dead pony, I note in passing that Mao wasn’t much about anything, politically, other than putting himself in a position of power. Mao’s socialist past is for the large part myth emplaced by Mao and his revisionist historians.
Mao was actually part of the Chinese Nationalist Party at the behest of the Sovs, who were looking to hijack (or, if you prefer, Shanghai) that party from within, which they more or less succeeded in doing. Mao managed to leverage this apparent defection (which won him some approval from Moscow) into a bit more power, which in turn led to more power, and so on.
Mao was more of an authoritarian thug than a committed socialist. Looking at his life, one could cynically (and I admit there’s a lot more reading that I could do in this area) suppose that many of the really awful things Mao did to the Chinese people were to keep them too busy to worry about who was running the country. Distractions, in other words. If there hadn’t already been revolution brewing in China, Mao would likely have been another wannabe academic.
“Vera Mark, assistant professor of French, Francophone Studies, and Linguistics, will pose ethics questions in her War and Violence course.”
I suspect I shan’t use my GI Bill to take that course.
[…] Hey! There’s that word again. […]
Oh, and here I thought physics was blind to everything but knowledge. Another idealistic picture, defaced by gang signs. Chandrasekhar may have just been an anomaly; see also various people surnamed Bose.
Oh, but think of the fun you could have, John!
True story: I once considered becoming a science teacher, and so I took some introductory education courses. Educational Theory and Practice 115 consisted of politically correct lectures in a 2000-seat hall on Mondays and Wednesdays, and discussion groups with a TA on Fridays. I quickly figured out that the lectures were a complete waste of time, and paid a classmate ten bucks to call me whenever a quiz was scheduled.
Fridays, though. Oh, Fridays were marvellous! Walking into a classroom with 20 wannabe schoolteachers, “facilitated” by another wannabe schoolteacher, to discuss the political correctness topic of the week. The devil’s advocacy has never been so much fun!
The TA asked me to tone it down a bit after the second time I made a classmate cry. That was the end of my dalliance with the teaching profession.
Mao was an Emperor. His Party is a Dynasty. Chinese history is a long roller coaster with the same loops in it.
Oh, and here I thought physics was blind to everything but knowledge.
If you’ve seen my classmates and teachers, you’ll know why we tend toward blindness.
Eh. In college I took a course titled “Technology and Society” which, from its title and catalog description sounded like an interesting and worthwhile course.
Nah. It was focused on a single book, by a single author, with a couple of short essays (one handed out as a photocopy from a magazine, the other from Asimov) standing in for the other side. There wasn’t any discussion, there wasn’t any attempt at breadth, and about all I got from it was how weak the prof’s (apparently) preferred position must be if two short essays were the balance to an entire book.
So, while some of the IDEAS sound like good things to explore, I bet the execution is seriously flawed.
Anyone that can be brought to tears by an argument deserves to be brought to tears.
I suppose Mao might have been rather less successful had the revolutionary instincts been more toward democracy than social justice, but he may have been able to make that work, as well.
Pragmatic guy, the Chairman.
I think it was P.J. O’Rourke who wrote “anyone who doesn’t know what’s wrong with our educational system has never slept with an elementary ed major.”
Where are the lawyers who told Opie that bombing Pakistan was legal and ethical.
I want them perp walked now.
One of the dumbest women I’ve ever dated was an elementary school teacher. Sweet but…let’s just say a box of rocks would be insulted if used as a simile to her intelligence. Her redeeming qualities stood out below her neck, if you know what I mean.
The TA asked me to tone it down a bit after the second time I made a classmate cry.
Is it bad of me to want to know the delicious details?
I just want a pic of the school teacher.
Somehow this “French, Francophone Studies, and Linguistics” does not compute with this “War and Violence course“.
I’d like to note that most of the “Tens of millions of people were killed by tyrannical regimes in the twentieth century” were killed by their own government not as a result of “indiscriminate use of force against civilians in violent conflicts” but very discriminating use of force against those who posed an internal political threat to the tyrant.
this is off topic but you yes you can help make Kirk’s dream come true. I gave him a ten.
oh. the link didn’t work. Here.
there is something wrong with this girl do NOT let her steal Kirk’s dream. I gave her a one here because she disturbs me and she is trying to steal Kirk’s dream.
ok the this girl link won’t work cause of teh website is retarded
theres some retarded going on somewhere, thats for sure
One of the dumbest women I’ve ever dated was an elementary school teacher.
You know, teaching kindergarten probably wouldn’t be the most effective use of Stephen Hawking’s time.
So, there’s that. :-)
I don’t think we necessarily need to have giant brains teaching primary school. We need primary teachers who have been trained to deliver their content effectively, without genuflecting to PC edufad of the day.
?
or even worse when they are forced to repeat the lies themselves, they lose once and for all their sense of probity. To assent to obvious lies is to co-operate with evil, and in some small way to become evil oneself.
See: meya.
Geoffb – By using the words France, war, and violence in the same sentence, France surrendered to itself, twice.
If I have told you once, I have told you once that if you are going to talk about bolt-on’s and lovebags, use you linky love.
meanwhile Jane is stealing Kirk’s dream. Jane is scary and something must be done.
Elementary school teaching involves a different problem than later years. One that has been dealt with in a manner that hurts students as the union is all about the teacher’s comfort.
Teaching what needs to be taught in the early years involves repetition, lots and lots of repetition. Boring for the teacher and the student alike but necessary if the students are to learn anything later on.
The union’s and Ed school’s solution is to skip the boring and do interesting things. Everybody likes interesting. Problem is you turn out kids who can’t do the basics and so never go anywhere with the harder thing to come.
As my mother did for me in the early 50’s so I did for my son in the 80’s and taught him to read and do basic math. I my mother’s case it was because she wanted to and I did it because the schools weren’t.
Right, geoff.
For that age group, patience, dedication, and a pleasant disposition are more important.
People who are really smart tend to be a little on the crotchety side, I’ve noticed.
tell jane about the subway famous “foot long” $5.00
And yeah, I think every parent should make sure their own kids can read, write, and do simple arithmetic.
If you’ve got those down, you can learn anything else.
On your own if necessary.
Unfortunately for me writing was not on the menu at home. I can read anything and understand what I read. Do most math in my head, but my writing is bad as all here can see every day. I’m most glad for our host’s indulgence.
I never thought you were a sucky writer and that’s something I note. I don’t usually say anything but I definitely note it. It’s like how malaclypse the tertiary apologizes for his writing but he’s an amazing writer with lots to say. Where did he go anyway I hope he’s ok.
Nothing wrong with your writing that I can see, geoffb.
#59 JD
I don’t recall talking about bolt-ons or lovebags but if I had a link to such and it came up I would be sure to share. The female form is one of God’s wonders in this world.
I thank you both. I tend to write exactly as it comes to me in my head. English comp was my worst subject in school and spell-check is a godsend to me.
Same here, I always enjoy your comments, geoff.
And, it would be a waste of time to edit and re-edit simple comments on a blog. I certainly hope so anyways; I drop at least a half dozen major errors on this blog a day.
Now I’m going to blush.
Anyway I think what SBP said in #64 is a key to eventually defeating the whole of Leftism. Parents making sure their children can read, write, and do basic math. That is one way to stop the madness of the Progressives.
It’s not just ethics that’s a code word like that. Sustainability is, of course, another big one. At the university where I work, there is a professor trying to find a way to require a course on sustainability to be added to the core curriculum. He even admits that “sustainability is not just about renewable energy and recycling–it also has political and economic implications.” In other words, he envisions a propaganda course in leftism. I hope that his dream course is never adopted, but I have little faith in the faculty to resist the temptation.
geoffb
You’re much better than I am. I can’t express the simplest thought without creating a long run-on sentence.
At least you know what they are. I just end them when I feel like. It.
“I don’t think people who worked for their grades should have to suffer because someone else slacked off,†one student says. Then how can she believe in wealth redistribution? “Money is different.†Another explains, “Earning money is not the same as earning grades.â€
Maybe if we gave a dollar value instead of a grade, and made them earn a minimum amount in order to graduate…
#65
Get in line pal. I wrote the book on crappy writing.