(Un)Common Readings
When I first started blogging in 2002 my focus and motivation was not economics but a wave of distressing signs in academia indicating a massive lurch left. In the eight years that followed things got at least a little better. But one thing that has continued a bit out of the public light has been the required freshman reading.
The common summer reading has seldom been a great book (Great Book? Is it Eurocentric for me to capitalize?) but rather something new and, often, of little lasting value. They also tend to be books that do not challenge the reader.
Up to now my state university (enrollment about 15,000, including 3,000 first-year students) has managed to avoid this bit of PC fashion. But late this week they sprung five potential titles for a "Common Readings Program" to work at creating cross- and inter-disciplinary opportunities in a campus that has made a mantra of "breaking down silos."
I could go on for another thousand words about this. Instead, I offer you the list. If any of these have merit with any of our readers, I will relay that information to our campus. (They wanted conversation about the 5 books, but gave us less than a week to read them and respond. So I am recruiting eyeballs. C'mon people! We have silos to topple!!)
- William Kamkwamba, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (2009)
- Sherman Alexie, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (2007)
- Bernadine Evaristo, Blonde Roots (2009)
- Eboo Patel, Acts of Faith: The Story of an American Muslim, in the Struggle for the Soul of a Lost Generation. (2010)
- Rebecca Skloot, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2010)
Which one would you pick? I'll let you know my choice and why on Tuesday. But meanwhile, consider that all five books are less than 4 years old and I doubt any of the five cause any deep reflections among thinkers of the Left.
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Comments :
Oct '10
Re: (Un)Common Readings
They couldn't even choose Invisible Man? Too long, I guess ....
I read one novel by Sherman Alexie: Indian Killer. It was competent, but you could see the resentment below the surface.
Jun '10
Re: (Un)Common Readings
Suggest that the board who came up with this list be fired.
Anything by Aldous Huxley, Hayek, Thomas Sowell, George Orwell, or Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn would be more preferable...or:
Lenin Stalin and Hitler, The Age of Social Catastrophe by Robert Gellately
The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt
Churchill and The Jews by Martin Gilbert
Bonhoeffer, Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas
Radical-In-Chief by Stanley Kurtz
I believe those would stimulate some spirited discussion but students may have to have a dictionary handy for some of the more difficult, multisyllabic words.
Jan '11
Re: (Un)Common Readings
My pick from the list would be Sherman Alexie: it wouldn't take long at all and I could get back to, like, texting and stuff.
Oct '10
Re: (Un)Common Readings
Try adding some of Winston Churchills early works...
In particular, the two volumes penned with regard to his observations of the Middle East at the turn of the century...That will never be allowed...
Oct '10
Re: (Un)Common Readings
I must be farther out of touch with the Left than I thought. I have never heard of any of these titles or authors.
May '10
Re: (Un)Common Readings
How about White Guilt by Shelby Steele. Short, succinct. Students can't say "tl;dr".
Re: (Un)Common Readings
More on that Tuesday, but ... I was a young Friedmanite in college but made myself read the Review of Radical Political Economy, Ramparts, Mother Jones, the Nation. I occasionally read the last of that list still, but not often. I am saddened by the fact my colleagues and I read an entirely different oeuvre and each thinks the other illiterate. Since I consider myself in the ignorance-reduction business, I want to engage those people. Sometimes it works out, often not. And oddly it's the old Marxist who's more open for debate than the young po-mo theorist usually, at least in the little eddy of the academic world I swim in.
Jun '10
Re: (Un)Common Readings
Maybe it's good that they're allowed to study Islam in a positive light, since they're never going to be shown Christianity or Judaism in a positive light. At least they'll discover that it's possible, in one politically-correct case, to take a religion seriously. Maybe they can transfer that feeling to Christianity or Judaism...as long as they keep it to themselves.
Dec '10
Re: (Un)Common Readings
It's just an awful list. I'm not averse to reading from a wide range, but that is not a wide range.
I went rogue, in college, and managed to avoid the standard curriculum, by taking Russian language and history for most of my electives. I only bring that up because I think many students would benefit more by reading (in English) Turgenev, Gogol, Dostoyevsky, Solzenheitzin, Tolstoy, Pasternak, and others. Here's my reasoning: there is little in the way of baggage that anybody unfamiliar with Russian history would bring to those works. As such, they could decide for themselves whom appeared to be vapid or cogent, with their own developing minds.
Mind expansion, versus indoctrination.
May '10
Re: (Un)Common Readings
I've been taking every young female college-aged student I discuss serious issues with and suggest they read Infidel by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. It's opened a lot of "feminist" eyes and we are working hard to persuade my school to have her come speak. Money is not an issue...ideology is.
Hmph. College...where diversity is celebrated in every avenue except thought...
Oct '10
Re: (Un)Common Readings
To be honest, I had picked up Rebecca Skloot's The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks myself for reading but have not yet gotten to it. It was suggested to me by a former colleague who is now doing cancer research. I have not read a word, but from what I heard it does not portray Hopkins in the most gracious light which falls in line all to easily with the corporate greed mantra of the Left. Except that this is an institution of higher learning... and you look at comparable liberal arts colleges, few come close to the research quality, size, scope, or impact of Hopkins. Personally, after reading the book, I hope to have more understanding about the perils of intellectual property protection on biological "products" such as genes (the above book and Crichton's Next could be fiction & non-fiction introductions to this bigger topic, and this would be both relevant to the legally inclined, philosophizing types, and biology majors).
Oct '10
Re: (Un)Common Readings
King Banaian
More on that Tuesday, but ... I was a young Friedmanite in college but made myself read the Review of Radical Political Economy, Ramparts, Mother Jones, the Nation. I occasionally read the last of that list still, but not often. I am saddened by the fact my colleagues and I read an entirely different oeuvre and each thinks the other illiterate. Since I consider myself in the ignorance-reduction business, I want to engage those people. Sometimes it works out, often not. And oddly it's the old Marxist who's more open for debate than the young po-mo theorist usually, at least in the little eddy of the academic world I swim in. · Feb 27 at 1:57pm
I used to think it important to know the mind of others. Then I realized that I didn't know my own mind. Then I realized that what was important was having the mind of Christ. From then on my endeavor has to become transformed by the renewing of my mind (Romans 12).
Feb '11
Re: (Un)Common Readings
While they never read the books themselves, my parents made the Great Books of the Western World available to me and my sisters. I think Dad got the employee discount when he was a salesman for the Encyclopedia Brittanica back in the mid-60s. So I grew up reading Chaucer and Shakespeare and Dante and Milton while playing D&D during high school. Weird.
You are at an alleged 'institute of higher learning.' Such institutes should pass on the tried and true. Not popular 'fads'. I'd nix every book on the list as 'required' reading. Required reading should include 'Ethics' by Aristotle, 'The Canterbury Tales' by Chaucer, etc. Especially to freshmen. Freshmen need to be well-grounded in Western civilization (history, culture, religion, etc) before going on to seriously stupid stuff.
Feb '11
Re: (Un)Common Readings
Having said that, I'll just mention some books that had great influence on me. 'Time Enough for Love' by Robert A. Heinlein. Two other books of his that influenced my political thinking are 'Stranger in a Strange Land' and 'Starship Troopers'.
I still would not require freshmen to read them. I might 'suggest' them in some sort of political science class.
Feb '11
Re: (Un)Common Readings
From the list above, I've read two.
From Skloot I learned a few things about culturing cells, and there were some nice descriptions of African American life in the rural south ca. 1950. I remember nothing of moral or philosophical significance, though there was a feeble attempt to make race such.
From Patel, I learned only that the author is well meaning, but innocent of Islam. It's a poor book, even as such books go. Patel really seems to believe that Islam can be healed by returning to the 7th century. Isn't that the malady?
For me, a handy way to evaluate a book is whether I'd ever read it again. I certainly can't imagine doing so with either.
It's hard to fault those who have to make such lists: five recent books of value, accesible to freshmen, and acceptable to both econ and lit faculties. Pass the Paxil.
Better to select the books at random from Project Gutenberg. At least the passage of time will have gotten rid of the worst.
May '10
Re: (Un)Common Readings
I think that Sowell's Basic Economics IV should be read by every incoming college student in the country - and then re-read by all non econ students after graduation.
Feb '11
Re: (Un)Common Readings
What a great book! An earlier edition allowed me finally to understand the other half of a newspaper.
For modern university students, we might also want to give them some basics on personal finance: the main differences between savings accounts and credit cards, how interest works, how to save for retirement and how that's different from buying a home worth ten times your annual income, how a 15 year fixed mortgage can sometimes make more sense than a 30 year interest only mortgage.
Perhaps we might also want to throw in a philosophy course on the existential implications of not getting everything you think you deserve or really, really want. They mostly know how this works with food and eating, perhaps the course could find a way to leverage that knowledge.
Feb '11
Re: (Un)Common Readings
I actually like the Skloot book. It's a good story, well-written, and raises serious issues about medical ethics. The interesting racial angle is how the author managed to connect with the extended family of the title character of the book. It's modern, to be sure, but is likely to have a half-life. If the point is to use books to break down student barriers (accepting the premise), then why not some books about interests rather than identity? How about books on sports for those who sneer at them (Mariness' Lombardi bio, Bissenger's Friday Night Lights, Halberstam's October 1964); or books on history for those who know no history (McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom, McCullough's Truman). The point is there are much better books to choose than this weak list!
Feb '11
Re: (Un)Common Readings
Good points all.
On reflection, I think you're right about ethical implications. I'd highlight the following:
Once contamination of other cell lines had taken place, and even after this was established by a great man crucified for his efforts, those working with hela hid or ignored what had happened. As a result, some 30 or 40 years of research, much funded by grant, was based on contaminated lines.
Can that research be trusted? What of later studies based on it? Have articles been retracted?
Again, before they knew what they had, researchers began injecting hela into people, who quickly developed cancer.
I'm a big fan of modern science. I'd not be writing this, if we'd stopped at Galen.
Still, projects are often rushed forward, without understanding potential consequences and ensuring the means to avert them.
Accountability is often lacking.
Practitioners can also often exhibit magnificent hubris and cruel indifference, to their fellow human beings and to criticism.
If we're paying and potential corpses, we should have a say. While they may regard us as laymen, I don't regard them as my priests.
(So many other good books to discuss... only 200 words)