I used to take for granted my right, as the American Association of University Professors' Statement on Ethics puts it, to seek and state the truth as I see it. I don't consider that to be a right asserted for faculty alone: I've always thought AAUP made these kinds of statements as part of a public discussion about the rights of citizens in a democracy. Meanwhile, in the name of preventing faculty from challenging the beliefs of students, attempts are being made to attenuate the rights of faculty to seek and state the truth as they see it.
Then there's the issue of what rights citizens in a democracy - or in any case, in the United States - have to seek and state the truth as they see it. This AP news item tells the stories of folks fired by corporations allegedly because of what they wrote in their own blogs. Why would it be permissible for a corporation to fire an employee on this basis? Are we required to like our employers? Are we required not to criticize them?
Let's see.
The Chancellor of the CSU, Charles Reed, in my opinion has as much understanding of what goes on in a college classroom as the average squid. In blinkered pursuit of an utterly inappropriate corporate model, Reed is doing everything he can to standardize, homogenize, bowdlerize (look it up, Chuckles), and in general tear the intellectual life out of education. Some critics of the corporatization of education refer to the kind of ideal Reed's conduct implies he has in mind as the McUniversity. I usually prefer the term Info Mall.
Most students are not aware of why this should make a difference to them. Perhaps for most of them, who treat their own educations as the purchase of degrees, it won't. It matters to me because it strikes at the heart of what education can do in a democratic context. Yes, educated citizens are the backbone of a truly democratic society, but I mean something more than that. Education can serve as the institutional context for public deliberation and discussion of controversial issues and ideas - it can be a place of debate about what citizenship entails and means. In our current media environment, there doesn't appear to be any other forum for such debate. And if contemporary trends continue, and if people like Chuckles the Chancellor have their way, the last best place for this kind of debate will be torn down.
If being a citizen of the United States really means being a consumer and member of the masses, then I'm wrong, we don't need education in the sense I've described, and an Info Mall is all we can afford. I hope being a citizen can still mean more than that.
Then there's the issue of what rights citizens in a democracy - or in any case, in the United States - have to seek and state the truth as they see it. This AP news item tells the stories of folks fired by corporations allegedly because of what they wrote in their own blogs. Why would it be permissible for a corporation to fire an employee on this basis? Are we required to like our employers? Are we required not to criticize them?
Let's see.
The Chancellor of the CSU, Charles Reed, in my opinion has as much understanding of what goes on in a college classroom as the average squid. In blinkered pursuit of an utterly inappropriate corporate model, Reed is doing everything he can to standardize, homogenize, bowdlerize (look it up, Chuckles), and in general tear the intellectual life out of education. Some critics of the corporatization of education refer to the kind of ideal Reed's conduct implies he has in mind as the McUniversity. I usually prefer the term Info Mall.
Most students are not aware of why this should make a difference to them. Perhaps for most of them, who treat their own educations as the purchase of degrees, it won't. It matters to me because it strikes at the heart of what education can do in a democratic context. Yes, educated citizens are the backbone of a truly democratic society, but I mean something more than that. Education can serve as the institutional context for public deliberation and discussion of controversial issues and ideas - it can be a place of debate about what citizenship entails and means. In our current media environment, there doesn't appear to be any other forum for such debate. And if contemporary trends continue, and if people like Chuckles the Chancellor have their way, the last best place for this kind of debate will be torn down.
If being a citizen of the United States really means being a consumer and member of the masses, then I'm wrong, we don't need education in the sense I've described, and an Info Mall is all we can afford. I hope being a citizen can still mean more than that.
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