College today

[Hawkmoon]

I am so glad I went to college when the mandatory classes were things like World History, Math, Science (choose Physics, Chemistry, or Biology)<, and English. I know I would either flunk or be kicked out of a class like this:

http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/30923/

[T.O.M.]

I know lots of kids attending Ohio State.   There must be a financial incentive for the University for this kind of class to be a requirement, as the school rarely does anything unless there is a financial benefit for the school.  They've even bought up a ton of rental properties around campus so they can charge rent from students who don't want to live in dorms.  I also wonder if this is only a requirement in that college, and not a university wide requirement, as I haven't heard any of the engineering or science students I know complaining about having to take a class like this.

[zxcvbob]

How much tuition and fees do they have to pay for a class like that?   

[charby]

It's one class of many to satisfy a diversity requirement. I remember having to take a diversity class as part of bachelor's in the 1990s. There was about 40 different classes to choose from, so I chose Asian Civilization, yes there was a woman's studies classes, African American classes, etc that one could choose from.

[zahc]

I would troll them so hard.

[Perd Hapley]

It's one class of many to satisfy a diversity requirement. I remember having to take a diversity class as part of bachelor's in the 1990s. There was about 40 different classes to choose from, so I chose Asian Civilization, yes there was a woman's studies classes, African American classes, etc that one could choose from.

I took a couple of Asian Civ. courses, too, for the same reason charby did - because we were required to study something outside our own culture. That's not the same thing as taking a class about white privilege, and identifying (fabricating) "systems of oppression".

[grampster]

zahc beat me to it.

[BlueStarLizzard]

It's one class of many to satisfy a diversity requirement. I remember having to take a diversity class as part of bachelor's in the 1990s. There was about 40 different classes to choose from, so I chose Asian Civilization, yes there was a woman's studies classes, African American classes, etc that one could choose from.

I had a diversity requirement too, but I took a class where I actually would learn something (Eastern Religions. Hard, but great. The professor was awesome.)

I kind of wonder on some of these how much of the enrollment actually *wants* to be there and how many are just there to score an easy A.

[230RN]

...

I kind of wonder on some of these how much of the enrollment actually *wants* to be there and how many are just there to score an easy A.

Yeah, because they wouldn't grade anyone with less than an A and hurt their feelz.

[Perd Hapley]

I had a diversity requirement too, but I took a class where I actually would learn something...

Yes. An important distinction.

[mtnbkr]

I took a couple of Asian Civ. courses, too, for the same reason charby did - because we were required to study something outside our own culture. That's not the same thing as taking a class about white privilege, and identifying (fabricating) "systems of oppression".

You must have gone to one of those immoral secular schools.  I went to a proper Baptist university where there were no such "diversity" requirements.  We had chapel twice a week for the first two years (graded on attendance).

Chris

[MillCreek]

I can say that in undergrad, grad and professional school back in the late 70's and early 80's, there were no diversity requirements.  I was too busy and too poor to take classes outside of the requirements for the major.

[Perd Hapley]

You must have gone to one of those immoral secular schools.

Correct. Three of them, actually.

[Hawkmoon]

I had a diversity requirement too, but I took a class where I actually would learn something

I wonder if such classes even exist today ...

[zxcvbob]

I can say that in undergrad, grad and professional school back in the late 70's and early 80's, there were no diversity requirements.  I was too busy and too poor to take classes outside of the requirements for the major.

+1

[BlueStarLizzard]

I wonder if such classes even exist today ...

I don't know. Most the really good professors I had were all getting close to retirement age and that was about ten years ago.

[HankB]

I am so glad I went to college when the mandatory classes were things like World History, Math, Science (choose Physics, Chemistry, or Biology)<, and English. I know I would either flunk or be kicked out of a class like this:

http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/30923/

Same here.

Back in my undergraduate days, I DID have to take courses in some of the "fuzzy" subjects to satisfy a "Humanities and Social Science" requirement - a few were interesting (Anthropology - a couple of courses in science fiction), the rest - atomic history, philosophy, psychology - were easy A's. There was NO "diversity" class offered, and back then I suspect that any suggestion for such a requirement (or something like Ethnic & Womyn's Studies) would not have been well received.

[BlueStarLizzard]

Same here.

Back in my undergraduate days, I DID have to take courses in some of the "fuzzy" subjects to satisfy a "Humanities and Social Science" requirement - a few were interesting (Anthropology - a couple of courses in science fiction), the rest - atomic history, philosophy, psychology - were easy A's. There was NO "diversity" class offered, and back then I suspect that any suggestion for such a requirement (or something like Ethnic & Womyn's Studies) would not have been well received.

I don't mind the diversity requirements for the study non western culture and history that most undergrads require these days. I actually think it's a good thing. If a college education is supposed to educate you and expand your horizons, studying other cultures is a plus. Not to mention, there is some good stuff out there that they don't have room for in your standard set of traditional history, literature, philosophy and whatnot classes. Hell, my Western Civ class barely made it into the 1800's. Could you imagine trying to do a real, comprehensive World History class in two semesters? Impossible.

I don't even mind getting a little creative with stuff and taking an academic look at things that aren't traditionally looked at.
The trick is it has to be an ACADEMIC look. It has to involve critical thinking and making the effort to be objective. Ethnic studies or even Woman's studies can and could be great, interesting material to hold a class on. The problem isn't the subject matter, it's how the subject matter is treated, and the legitimacy of those classes are completely destroyed by the lack of objective study and the opinionated bent of the professors teaching them.
I had too many professors fail at understanding that I was there to learn about something, not to be indoctrinated into something.