www.byzcath.org Forums General Discussions Town Hall The Dirty Dozen: Twelve Outrageous US College Courses

Since the 1960s, the Young America's Foundation has decried what it considers leftist radicalism on college campuses. Last month, it released this academic year's "Dirty Dozen" � college courses it found to be "the most bizarre and troubling instances of leftist activism supplanting traditional scholarship."

1. "The Phallus"

Occidental College. A seminar in critical theory and social justice, this class examines Sigmund Freud, phallologocentrism and the lesbian phallus.

2. "Queer Musicology"

UCLA. This course welcomes students from all disciplines to study what it calls an "unruly discourse" on the subject, understood through the works of Cole Porter, Pussy Tourette and John Cage.

3. "Taking Marx Seriously"

Amherst College. This advanced seminar for 15 students examines whether Karl Marx still matters despite the countless interpretations and applications of his ideas, or whether the world has entered a post-Marxist era.

4. "Adultery Novel"

University of Pennsylvania. Falling in the newly named "gender, culture and society" major, this course examines novels and films of adultery such as "Madame Bovary" and "The Graduate" through Marxist, Freudian and feminist lenses.

5. "Blackness"

Occidental College. Critical race theory and the idea of "post-blackness" are among the topics covered in this seminar course examining racial identity. A course on whiteness is a prerequisite.

6. "Border Crossings, Borderlands: Transnational Feminist Perspectives on Immigration"

University of Washington. This women studies department offering takes a new look at recent immigration debates in the U.S., integrating questions of race and gender while also looking at the role of the war on terror.

7. "Whiteness: The Other Side of Racism"

Mount Holyoke College. The educational studies department offers this first-year, writing-intensive seminar asking whether whiteness is "an identity, an ideology, a racialized social system," and how it relates to racism.

8. "Native American Feminisms"

University of Michigan. The women's studies and American culture departments offer this course on contemporary Native American feminism, including its development and its relation to struggles for land.

9. "'Mail Order Brides?' Understanding the Philippines in Southeast Asian Context"

Johns Hopkins University. This history course � cross-listed with anthropology, political science and studies of women, gender and sexuality � is limited to 35 students and asks for an anthropology course as a prerequisite.

10. "Cyberfeminism"

Cornell University. Cornell's art history department offers this seminar looking at art produced under the influence of feminism, post-feminism and the Internet.

11. "American Dreams/American Realities"

Duke University. Part of Duke's Hart Leadership Program that prepares students for public service, this history course looks at American myths, from "city on the hill" to "foreign devil," in shaping American history.

12. "Nonviolent Responses to Terrorism"

Swarthmore College. Swarthmore's "peace and conflict studies" program offers this course that "will deconstruct 'terrorism' " and "study the dynamics of cultural marginalization" while seeking alternatives to violence.

It reminds me of the Ann Coulter approach to politics: "Smear people and look self-righteous while doing it."

Joe,

Have you ever even read Ann Coulter? I doubt you could say such a thing if you had...

And is higher education REALLY all about academic freedom? And how does one define "academic freedom"?

Gordo

Ann Coulter is great Catholic! She upholds the faith almost on a daily basis on her radio program. She goes to the Church in NY with EWTN's Father Rutleg (spelling?). She has recommend that Church to people in the NY area on more than one time on her radio program.

I find it difficult to offer a strong opinion about the worthiness of a course based simply on the title and a brief description. Being able to see this list of readings and the syllabus would be more helpful. Having said that, some of these courses do appear to me to be "looney." OTOH, I do think that some of these courses, particularly those that deal with race, have the potential to be valuable courses, particularly to the extent that they help students understand that race-at least as it is usually understood in the contemporary context, is a man-made construct that has been used to divide people, as well as to justify enslaving Africans and Native Americans. Also, I think that the "American Dreams/American Realities" course offered at Duke University has the potential to be a valuable course, provided that the instructor does not seek to impose an Anti-American bias on the students. Finally, what's wrong with a course that examines "alternatives to violence"?
Ryan

Well, I suppose I am going to have to defend these institutions. Higher education in the United States is about academic freedom.

For an excellent analysis of academic freedom, go here:

http://www.thomasaquinas.edu/about/bluebook/03.htm