[quote]thunderbolt23 wrote:
LIFTICVSMAXIMVS wrote:
Most studies in the university system are a product of supply and demand. This study exists because someone thought it relevant enough to pursue on their own and thus became the first expert on it and started offering courses in it.
The demand side of students should never drive education - not completely.
If it was not relevant students wouldn’t persue it. To say it is a waste of academic discipline implies you think there is nothing original in “African American” culture worth knowing…don’t you think that is kind of short sighted? Why is it ok to study sociology and not African American studies?
Unfortunately, your assessment is wrong - the “Studies” discpline involve zero intellectual rigor. You won’t get educated from taking them - you will learn som stuff, but you won’t get much of an education. The curriculum is therapeutic - it doesn’t challenge anyone’s thinking, it doesn’t make you work through hard problems.
Oh, and when did I say I thought sociology was a good use of time?
To be fair, it is a better use of time than any “studies” class, but not by much.
They do under many circumstances…slavery, for example. Music, religious practices, and food culture can also be viewed from a “monolithic” perspective. I could go on and on. If you don’t care it is your choice not to study it but don’t knock the whole of the discipline because you think it irrelevant.
Well, no, they don’t. At least we all hope they don’t.
And why would I not knock the whole of a discipline if I thought it was irrelevant?
There are many aspects of American culture that are offered as stand alone disciplines do you also think they are not worth study too?
It is not the topic per se - it is what you get out of it at the end. You major in “Whatever Studies”, I will assume you did nothing hard, only had your previous views reinforced instead of challenged, and wasted your money on your education. There is zero rigor involved - they are unserious, cupcake academic disciplines. [/quote]
I don’t see how you can make a value assessment on “therapeutic” learning. Is that not enough value? What you say about African American studies can be applied to every subject–they all fulfill a therapeutic need to “know”.
You operate under the assumption that there is no intellectual value to understanding specific culture–which answers the question, have you ever taken such a course? No. Theories on African American culture are very thought provoking and offer many differing view points. At the undergraduate level your assessment may have merit as the only curriculum addressed is usually the professor’s own. This is not true of higher level courses and is usually a function of original research and dissertation.
As a general guideline most undergraduate work is a waste of time intellectually because the only goal of the student is to finish the “required” course work with a passing grade–but this does not mean we can dismiss a particular subject as unworthy of study.