Call me naive, but...
I was wondering what scholars in centuries past who'd completed degrees in astrology must have thought when their universities finally abolished the course as nonsense. Which led me to imagining how I'd react if my alma mater stopped offering a Bachelor Of Arts program. Then I climbed onto my trusty high horse...
As unis move further from learning for it's own sake and become "degree factories" where a student's sole goal is to get a fancy piece of paper and get out, as disciplines are valued more for the investment they can attract or fees they can command than for their social and cultural worth, as college prospectuses mention graduate placement percentages ahead of the virtues of a liberal education, I can see a day when some institutions scrap their humanities departments altogether.
That worries me. It also concerns me that a Google search reveals you can still study for an astrology degree.
posted by Addster @ 6:43 PM
1 Comments:
You might be right mate. There are a lot of university courses specializing in complete nonsense, things like astrology. Also, research into psychic activity etc. And perhaps the most mainstream are the "medical" degrees in unproven areas like "eastern medicine"; homeopathy; accupuncture; chiropracters etc.
On the last one, sure, there is some benefit to spinal manipulation to help back pain...but the true essence of chiropractic care is about spinal manipulation to help cure disease etc, which has never been shown to do a thing.
As more attention turns to this kind of nonsense, your fears about humanities getting left behind are certainly well founded. It is all about making money after all.
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