My local institution of higher learning (Bates College in Lewiston, Maine) just held a two-day academic event called, “Making Whoopi: A Symposium on the Career of Whoppi Goldberg.” Fifteen professors presented academic papers (e.g., “Alien Whoopie: Star Trek and the Goldberg Generation”).
Soon, my kids will be ready for college. I would like to point them away from this kind of trendy fluff and toward something more rigorous and substantial. Dead white males, so to speak. Are there any colleges and universities that still teach stuff worth learning?
Most colleges have plenty of courses on the basics. People tend to focus on the handful of nontraditional subjects they consider silly and get into dudgeon mode (and a symposium is much different from a course). One lousy little symposium and you’re all ready to condemn the entire curriculum.
There’s no particular reason why Whoopi Goldberg is any worse a subject for academic papers than, say, Henry James. There’s nothing wrong with looking at popular culture as an academic subject. And there are just as many silly academic papers written about Shakespeare as anyone else (maybe more).
You might consider William & Mary (“Alma Mater of A Nation,” baby!) located in fantasically scenic and fantastically boring Williamsburg VA. In addition to being very old, W&M is known for the Jefferson School of Public Policy (that dead enough & white enough for you?) Government (not political science), Religion, Historical Archaeology, and physics. Pretty solid theater department too, in case that doesn’t fall under the fluff category.
Since there’s absolutely nothing to do, everyone studies extremely hard and it one of the only schools in the US remoured to have “grade deflation.” It’s public too, which is a bonus if you’re price consious.
Founded 1693, it don’t get much more old school than that. But I repeat my warning, it is an amazingly, fantastically dull place to live for 4 years. Also, someone from Maine will probably find it disturbingly warm & humid.
I agree with the previous posters that many colleges and universities offer traditional courses in addition to
the “fluffier” stuff. From your description, it sounds like the symposium at Bates was intended to provide a forum for academics to present papers, and was not part of the regular study curriculum.
St. John’s College, with campuses in Annapolis and Santa Fe, is famous for its “Great Books” Curriculum (“dead white males”)
“The tragedy of the human condition is that we’re aware of our own mortality. The comedy of the human condition is that we’re aware of our own nakedness.”
Try to find THE NATIONAL REVIEW COLLEGE GUIDE, AMERICA’S 50 TOP LIBERAL ARTS SCHOOLS by Buck. It may be out of print now (and somewhat out-of-date), but Amazon.com has a used copy for $10.00. The last time I was there (one or two months ago), I saw several copies at Book Warehouse on Rte. 1 in Kittery, if you’re ever down that way. It’s about a half mile east of the Trading Post, near Burger King. (They may be sold out by now; merchandise moves fast there). You can call them at (439-8551). Book Warehouse also has outlets in both Conway and North Conway, N.H.
I’d like to recommend my own Alma Mater, the University of Chicago, which boasts graduates of Carl Sagan and Indiana Jones. Academically speeking, you can’t get more conservative than the U of C. The most whimsical it gets is the yearly “Latke/Hammentash” debate. (The longest running academic debate in America.)
There was recently an attempt by the administration to “loosen things up a little” to attract more undergraduates. This was fiercely opposed by the alums, and, interestingly enough, some applicants, who wanted the most rigorous academic experience.
Well, lets not burn any school that has fun fluff courses, they are provided to lighten the incredibly intense and stressful nature of college life. For many students taking this type of course its an opportunity to actually look forward to a class within their requirements of Chen, Physics and Diff Eq. Maybe you should consider that your kids may enjoy this stuff and it won’t detract from their other “real” studies. Face it, every college offers “free electives” and most kids take kinesiology classes if they don’t take fluff. So, do you think its more justified to learn the basics of curling instead of Whoopie 101? Its fun, its a easy A, wheres the harm? Its not like they could major in it. Consider that most of the oldest and greatest universities have this type of stuff, including (pioneered by) Yale, and the rest of the Ivy League, the poster boys for “old white dead guys”.
Now, if you’re determined to get away from this stuff, the Midwest is the way to go. Pretty conservative and the universities are fairly priced for top teir educations. My Alma Mater the University of Illinois at Urbana/Champaign is anually one of the top 3 engineering schools in the country. This paired with top ten ratings of best collegiate value. If your kids are interested in Business or Engineering I suggest you explore Illinois for an intense and focused intellectual experience.
The final comment, its not your decision to make, the kids are the ones who must begin their lives,a nd they must do the research and work to determine the path their lives are going to take. Think about staying out of this decision entirely!
I found this informative link (Classical Education) that discusses several schools with classical curricula, especially “Great Books” programs. Two schools that are mentioned favorably are in N.H. None in Maine, I’m afraid.
Of course the best school of all is Whattsamattu U.