

The Last Professor - lnguyen
http://fish.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/18/the-last-professor/

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brentr
I will share my unpopular opinion. The concept of equality has destroyed the
university. Not everyone is capable of digesting a humanist education;
however, in the attempt to make sure "no child is left behind," the university
has thrown its doors wide open. The result is that those who would best profit
from a university, the capable minds, are left behind. Thus, I propose a new
battle cry for the day, one meant to capture the true essence of the modern
movement: "only capable minds left behind."

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time_management
There's more to it. You're right that this is a part of the problem.

The collapse of academia, of which professors have been by and large victims,
is a rather revolting phenomenon, but professors share some segment of the
blame. At some point, many professors developed the attitude that research is
their real work, and that teaching is commodity labor that can be passed off
to semiskilled TAs, never mind that there's a vast discrepancy between the
effectiveness of a good teacher vs. that of a mediocre one.

Physics professors can get away with this attitude, since physics research is
extremely important; without it, there would be nothing to teach. And there
are some brilliant researchers who are terrible teachers, and they're valued
contributors to the academic mission. Literature professors can't get away
with this. First of all, literature would still exist if there were no
"researchers". Second, the entire purpose of their existence is the
transmission of culture from one generation to the next, e.g. teaching.

The bureaucrats in charge of the universities have come to agree with (some)
leading research professors that research is the real work of an academic, and
the work by which one professor can be distinguished from another, and that
teaching is secondary, replaceable grunt work. The humanities academics have
been royally screwed by this attitude.

~~~
brentr
Research can be incorporated into learning, but not in the current university.
If the modern-day university was smaller, then research and learning could be
conducted side-by-side. The problem plaguing the system today is that there
are too many students, mostly of incapable mind; there is only so much room in
a research lab. I know this because I worked in one at the University of
Florida. It could easily fit five to seven students in addition to the chief
researcher. If we cast out those incapable of receiving a true education, we
could fit the rest into a lab; research and teaching could coexist. It is an
elitist viewpoint, but a valid viewpoint.

------
lliiffee
Another possibility: The humanities and other non-practical research aren't
_declining_ , but rather _failing to expand_ along with the rest of college
education. I would think that most University of Phoenix students wouldn't
have gone to college a generation ago. Is the number of traditional humanities
professors per-capita really _smaller_ , per capita? I doubt it.

------
puzzle-out
This article: a paraphrase (of a book by the writer's former student),
uncritical, little use of evidence, largely anecdotal = book plug.

~~~
time_management
It also pertains to a critical issue facing our society: the catastrophic loss
of a culture, driven by the shortsighted bureaucrats and uncultured moneymen
who have infested and gained control over academia. Any time an essay on this
topic is featured in the major media, it draws attention to this problem, and
that's a good thing.

