Wednesday, September 12, 2018

We could use more like it …

… Opinion | The Most Contrarian College in America - The New York Times. (Hat tip, Lee Lowe.)

I’m not saying that most students would take to it or that other schools should mimic it. The degree to which “the program” omits the intellectual contributions of women and people of color troubles me. 
Oh, please. Completion of their program will well enable you and probably even incline you to read all sorts of other writers. Do you think these students are unaware that many great writers are not male or white? I wonder if Bruni has read Tan Twan Eng, one of the best novelists writing today.
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5 comments:

  1. Lee4:59 AM

    Whilst I agree that such a programme is enabling in the sense you mean, the inclusion of classic texts from the non-Western canon (Chinese or Japanese, for example) would likely bear fruit. I suspect that it would certainly help a reader understand and appreciate Tan Twan Eng's work more.

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  2. Frank Wilson9:57 AM

    I think it is only necessary to read Eng's work in order to understand and appreciate it. It stands quite well on its own.

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  3. Lee1:52 AM

    You misunderstand my point. Of course Tan Twan Eng's work can be read and appreciated without knowledge of non-Western literature, but just imagine how much richer our reading could be if as students we were exposed to very different literary and cultural traditions. Context matters.

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  4. Frank Wilson2:30 PM

    I don't know. I read The Tale of Genji during the summer when I was in college. I've been reading Chinese poetry probably since high school. Reading itself gets you to know of things besides those of your own time and place. Just let your reading take its course. Follow it where it leads. Why not have some faith in those students everyone claims to be so concerned about? If they're really any good, they'll discover plenty without any help.

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  5. Frank Wilson2:40 PM

    Oh, and what about temporal parochialism? Why is there not more insistence on reading Beowulf or Chaucer? I am reading Julian of Norwich's Revelations of Divine Love, written around 1395.

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