Until 2011, students majoring in English at UCLA had to take one course in Chaucer, two in Shakespeare, and one in Milton —the cornerstones of English literature. Following a revolt of the junior faculty, however, during which it was announced that Shakespeare was part of the "Empire," UCLA junked these individual author requirements. It replaced them with a mandate that all English majors take a total of three courses in the following four areas: Gender, Race, Ethnicity, Disability and Sexuality Studies; Imperial, Transnational, and Postcolonial Studies; genre studies, interdisciplinary studies, and critical theory; or creative writing.
In other words, the UCLA faculty was now officially indifferent to whether an English major had ever read a word of Chaucer, Milton or Shakespeare, but the department was determined to expose students, according to the course catalog, to "alternative rubrics of gender, sexuality, race, and class."
via online.wsj.com
Hit the link above to read the whole thing
Way back when I was at Uni, we had to do four Humanities Electives, as part of producing more than a robotic Engineer!
IIRC they were Modern History, Psychology, Political Science and can't even remember the other one!
The standard of these electives was set a bit below the equivalent Arts Degree level.
I quickly realised that I had made the correct career choice.
Posted by: AlterEgo | January 5, 2014 at 10:37 AM
They were bringing that rot into my science course at uni whilst part way through. I managed to avoid it through the deliciously named "grandFATHERing" provisions.
One wag in the faculty suggested a mens studies course as an alternative to "wimmins" studies. Feminazis don't have any sense of humour...
Posted by: Armchair Beak | January 5, 2014 at 11:47 AM
Next year it is going to be: Pillow biting 101, How to wear a Burka, and Bib and brace your way to union power.
Posted by: Jim Witt | January 6, 2014 at 07:20 PM