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ACTA in the news
An article from today's New York Times considers the debate over the extent to which professorial politics influences students. While nearly everyone agrees that faculties on the whole tend be politically one-sided, many observers dispute whether this imbalance has any consequence in the classroom. Brooklyn College history professor KC Johnson says "yes," pointing out that the problem is less political than pedagogical, with many disciplines within the humanities (such as diplomatic and military history) being pushed to the margins. ACTA's own Anne Neal agrees, noting that the problem lies not in a simplistic "left-right" characterization, but instead to the essence of what is taught. Do professors influence students? Yes, surely, since students cannot know what is not taught. That is why ACTA advocates the need for institutions to demand a coherent core curriculum offering exposure to such central subjects as Western Civilization and American History.
ACTA has, as the Times notes, followed these issues closely, with our publications on Intellectual Diversity and the core curriculum advancing a critique of the current state of higher education, and showing ways in which trustees can help their institutions reach a solution.
Posted by Sandra E. Czelusniak on November 03, 2008 at November 3, 2008 12:41 PM
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