[lit-ideas] Re: Can Professors Make the World Better?
- From: "Lawrence Helm" <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 3 Apr 2012 18:12:35 -0700
David,
Ironically, I just read an article commemorating the 25th anniversary of
Alan Bloom's Closing of the American Mind.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/book-drove-them-crazy_634905.html?nop
ager=1
Initially, Bloom's book was praised even by professors representing points
of view criticized by Bloom, but once his book was more clearly understood
it was condemned by such professors - who went on to close the American mind
even more thoroughly than before, e.g., "Last year, the American Council of
Trustees and Alumni surveyed the catalogues of more than one thousand
colleges and universities. Fewer than 20 percent of the schools required
courses in American government, only a third required a literature survey
class, and 15 percent required anything more than a beginner's level class
in a foreign language. The results have been predictable. The authors of
Academically Adrift, the most devastating book on higher education since
Bloom, found that nearly half of undergraduates show no measurable
improvement in knowledge or 'critical thinking' after two years of college."
Lawrence
From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of David Ritchie
Sent: Tuesday, April 03, 2012 4:09 PM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Can Professors Make the World Better?
I'm preparing a class on Eugenics. The following lines from Wikipedia
jumped out:
In the Chinese province of <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sichuan> Sichuan
in 1999, a sperm bank called Notables' Sperm Bank, opened, with professors
as the only permitted donors. The semen bank was approved by the authority
for family planning in the provincial capital
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chengdu> Chengdu.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics#cite_note-180> [181]
[
<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Eugenics&action=edit§ion=29>
edit]
David Ritchie,
Portland, Oregon
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