Barbaros Adipiscendam

[JaneV2.0]

"Perhaps next they could eliminate math from the physics program, it being a tool of white supremacy."

Wasn't math developed by swarthy Middle Easterners? Asians? Hardly a tool of white supremacy, which is too often a contradiction in terms anyway.

I did equally well in math and languages, but "studied" the latter because they were easy for me, and I was a lazy sod. If I had it to do over, with all the lovely choices available now, I like to think I would be more open to a challenge. But maybe that's just revisionist thinking.

[oldhat]

Seems like the old story, where the right-wing media fixates on some instance in which political correctness is taken to a silly extreme, but which on closer examination is pretty reasonable.

I say this as one who laments the erosion of humanities requirements. There are now schools where you can major in English without having read Shakespeare or Chaucer.

In a separate post I just linked to a series of philosophy lectures that I watched to help pass the time during the height of the pandemic. This was a full-year course that I believe was required of Wheaton College students at the time. You can bet that after taking that class, those kids knew how to think.

[Jane v2.0]

"I say this as one who laments the erosion of humanities requirements. There are now schools where you can major in English without having read Shakespeare or Chaucer."

One of my many majors was English. I read Chaucer in high school (interesting only because of linguistic changes), and dropped out of a Shakespeare class a week in. Now, I'd just cut to the chase and study technical writing, as I eventually did.

[oldhat]

"I say this as one who laments the erosion of humanities requirements. There are now schools where you can major in English without having read Shakespeare or Chaucer."

One of my many majors was English. I read Chaucer in high school (interesting only because of linguistic changes), and dropped out of a Shakespeare class a week in. Now, I'd just cut to the chase and study technical writing, as I eventually did.

Chacun a son gout. As I told my Shakespeare students when I was teaching it, you can get through life without having read Shakespeare, but you're missing out on something pretty good.

[catherine]

Chacun a son gout. As I told my Shakespeare students when I was teaching it, you can get through life without having read Shakespeare, but you're missing out on something pretty good.

oldhat, you taught Shakespeare?? So cool. I remember not being able to sleep one night because I was worrying about Shakespeare fading into oblivion. haha! I haven't read his work in a long time, but I do have those little Folger Library editions where the right side is the text and the left side are the notes. I've had them for years--in fact the price on the books are around .50.

My personal fave is Richard II

[JaneV2.0]

I'm sure I read some of his work in high school and I'm familiar with several of his story lines.
I kind of liked the "When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes..." poem.
I'm not much of a fan of works touted as "literature" anyway.

[LDAHL]

There's a piece in that right-wing media outlet, the Atlantic on Princeton's decision: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/ar...-greek/619110/

They quote some of the University's blather about the Classics' place in "the long arc of systemic racism".

It still seems to me that Classics minus classical languages is mere Greco-Roman Studies.

[bae]

It still seems to me that Classics minus classical languages is mere Greco-Roman Studies.

When my daughter was at Princeton in the Classics department, her work was mostly in Norse, Old/Middle Irish, West Saxon, and Coptic.

[ApatheticNoMore]

There's a piece in that right-wing media outlet, the Atlantic on Princeton's decision: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/ar...-greek/619110/

I laughed when Trump referred to it as a left wing publication, what are we talking Counterpunch, nah not even Vox, the Atlantic, oh LOL left wing publication. No they just had it in for Trump and that they did, because really who wouldn't, because he sucked in too many ways to even count anymore.

Shakespeare, sure I read for school, I've seen plays too (one not that long ago, before covid). But at this point I wouldn't care if I spent the rest of my life reading only female authors, so only Shakespeare's sister , though I remain free to make any exceptions because I invented that criteria anyway . Because maybe I have had enough of the male perspective on life, all my life. But that's not what a college student should do necessarily.

[rosarugosa]

In my late twenties/early thirties I was on a mission to read all of Shakespeare. I favored the Bantam paperback annotated versions. Because of my compulsion to keep lists, I can tell you that I read 25 of his plays and then I apparently lost steam. This might be something fun for me to resume in the future. I thought it was really good stuff!