http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/01/opinion/sunday/liberal-education-in-authoritarian-places.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0
In the closing lines of this article, the author says, "Universities need to recover a more “missionary,” freedom-seeking approach to their host countries, pedagogically and even politically." This is a fascinating assertion for an author who I suspect has never tried to teach in another country, let alone the not-so-liberal regions of the U.S.A. (you can name your own as there are several). So, by James Sleeper's theory, it sounds as if those who espouse liberal arts as learning to free the mind and spirit should restrict their teaching to safe places where these ideas would be welcome. The question I would ask is, "How did U.S. higher education get where it is now and wasn't their an evolutionary process along the way?" Isn't this the point of higher education opportunity sweeping across the developing world and wouldn't a passionate educator want to be part of it rather than restrict access to it?
In the closing lines of this article, the author says, "Universities need to recover a more “missionary,” freedom-seeking approach to their host countries, pedagogically and even politically." This is a fascinating assertion for an author who I suspect has never tried to teach in another country, let alone the not-so-liberal regions of the U.S.A. (you can name your own as there are several). So, by James Sleeper's theory, it sounds as if those who espouse liberal arts as learning to free the mind and spirit should restrict their teaching to safe places where these ideas would be welcome. The question I would ask is, "How did U.S. higher education get where it is now and wasn't their an evolutionary process along the way?" Isn't this the point of higher education opportunity sweeping across the developing world and wouldn't a passionate educator want to be part of it rather than restrict access to it?
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