Keeping Up With the Times

The Rev. John P. Minogue argues that the 20th Century University is Obsolete in an article which is written in an amusingly dry tone, but with a subtext of deep despair. Academia is increasingly driven by market forces, but isn't really keeping up with what the customers want. For one thing, we still have libraries, even though our students barely use them. Overhead is rampant everywhere in academe. So Minogue tells us to expect clever businessmen to make a fortune with glorified diploma mills and put the traditional university out of business, basically. I guess one could argue that we've been hearing this for decades, and that there are (of course!) still kids out there who are searching for something more meaningful in their life than an easy A, and that if you build a traditional university, they will still come...

But, the heck with it. I'm planning to keep up with the changes. I'm going to give the public what they want. The classes I'll be offering (when they let me)?

"Dude, Where's My Car? The Cinema of Ashton Kutcher in American Life"

"Economics 101: How to Find Super-Hot Clothes for Really Cheap!"

"English 211: How to Avoid Reading in Everyday Life"

"Shakespeare: What a homo, Dude! Seriously!"

"Women's Studies 236: Britney, Christina, J-Lo, and the Semiotics of Booty-Popping"

"History 326: The Beer Bong in the French Revolution"

and, of course...

"Intro to Postmodernism: Shallow Contempt for Fun and Profit"