ACTA's Must-Reads
« What did it all mean? | Main | Efficiency measures result in $9 million savings »
On diversity and the exchanging of ideas
This morning, the top story at Inside Higher Ed trumpets a study documenting that students benefit by interacting with other students with different backgrounds. This is surely important research, but the study fails to address an even more important challenge to the robust exchange of ideas in the academic setting. Just as students should have the chance to talk life over with peers who have different life circumstances and values, the college years must offer them the opportunity to learn from faculty with a variety of intellectual approaches. This, unfortunately, is a difficult issue on campus, and an area that requires leadership from trustees and alumni.
As Brooklyn College professor KC Johnson and others have pointed out, on many campuses today, students don't even have the option of taking a course on military history -- and they have less and less opportunity to take courses in diplomatic, political, and economic history -- simply because scholars in these areas are not being hired as they once were. By exercising their proper role in governance, trustees can address this issue, and so can alumni in their capacity as donors. For some specific suggestions from ACTA, see Intellectual Diversity: Time for Action and The Intelligent Donor's Guide to College Giving.
Posted by Charles Mitchell on December 19, 2008 at December 19, 2008 10:50 AM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.goactablog.org/blog/mt-tb.cgi/527