What's a university

Indiana Daily Student opinion columnist Sidney Fletcher wrote a reaction piece Wednesday to news of the University’s presidential intern’s plans to study the feasibility of a program designed to bolster the liberal arts.

Sidney referred to the program in question as a “Great Books” program, though this phrase was not explicitly used in the article to describe the proposed changes. Instead, it was only alluded to by mention of similar programs at “Stanford, Yale and Columbia universities.”

Unfortunately, the article does not provide much detail regarding what the program might look like. We know it might involve “Western master works of art, philosophy and literature” and the context of those works.

Considering that Christian Hines, the intern conducting the research, studied “democratic theory and contemporary American citizenship,” I imagine the program would seek to educate undergraduates on the foundations of our society for the sake of improved participation in our democracy.

I hope these are his intentions, and I hope his study influences IU leadership to make curriculum changes which stimulate the student body to understand politics beyond the talking heads of mainstream media.

For example, the Constitution is constantly and loudly  defended by said television pundits.

But how many people actually read and understand the famous works which contributed major ideas to the writing of the Constitution?

How many citizens understand the philosophical foundations of private property?

With voter turnout frequently lower than 40 percent and private money wielding disproportionate influence through lobbying in government, more people should be concerned about democracy and the role of the citizen.

I attribute this rampant apathy and political corruption to the dominance of neoliberalism throughout the past century and to Western concepts of the “Self.”

So I offer support for expanded and improved liberal arts studies at IU, if these studies are intended to improve political involvement and cultivate critical analyses of thought that has formed the Western world.

Like Sidney, though, I do not expect that by simply reading from a list of “Great Books” written by “dead white guys” everything will be improved.

These texts must be put into conversation with our current political and social atmosphere so that courses are not simply “teaching the same Greco-Roman mindset,” as Sidney imagines, but instead questioning this mindset to improve understanding of politics.

­— poren@indiana.edu