At least that's what Mytheos Holt argues in this longer piece over at Phi Beta Cons. I agree with him up to a point. If you're sure of your traditionalist convictions, you've got to read a lot more carefully and thoroughly, and you'll have them subject to far greater intellectual challenge than your liberal classmates will ever encounter. Much less intellectual flabbiness to be sure, and conservative undergraduates are not nearly as likely to ease into smug complacency, since the academic landscape isn't very friendly toward their ideas. We've seen that time and again in numerous postings here in Collegiate Press Roundup. Holt's got a point, as I said, but I also think you shouldn't have to work so hard to find even the smallest particle of real intellectual diversity. If a college education is supposed to challenge every student's incoming assumptions, then that's certainly not happening for the great majority who are already multiculturalized. As Ashley Thorne's piece today illustrates, there's at least one liberal journalism professor who's aware of the problem, even if his proposed solutions remain part of the problem.
- Article
- November 09, 2011