Jesus Christ what a catastrophe.
These are the two great destructive forces currently threatening the university: leftist politics and vocationalization. The idea seems to more-or-less be to eliminate universities entirely, and replace them with job-training and indoctrination centers. Only the sciences can save us.
This reminds me of a phenomenal short story by Connie Willis: "In the Late Cretaceous." The university is downsizing and an education major becomes chair of the paleontology department in preparation for its extinction. It is very, very cleverly done. (She is a great SF writer, but this one is straight fiction.)
ReplyDelete(Part of _Impossible Things_ collection.)
Thanks for this recommendation--will check out.
ReplyDeleteReminds *me* of some of James Hynes's stuff, especially *The Lecturer's Tale*...which I really can't recommend highly enough.