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MLA, ACTA and common ground
Are the Modern Language Association's head and ACTA on the same page? Well, you decide. A recent address at the MLA by president Gerald Graff suggests there is indeed some common ground. (At the MLA website, click on "Listen to the 2008 Presidential Address" on the left sidebar.) There, over a period of 45 minutes, Graff covers many different topics, including student engagement and the role of professors. He also acknowledges--unlike many colleagues--that political advocacy in the classroom and the lack of openness to opposing viewpoints are real problems.
As Graff sees it, being sheltered from "qualified criticism" of pet biases and assumptions is detrimental to faculty intellectual development--and makes it "unprofessional and unethical" for professors to "appoint themselves the political consciences of their students." These concerns sound mighty close to observations ACTA has made in our report Intellectual Diversity: Time for Action and elsewhere. We thank our friend Mark Bauerlein for bringing this speech to our attention, and we commend it to yours.
Posted by Sandra E. Czelusniak on April 20, 2009 at April 20, 2009 09:02 AM
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