GroshLink

In Shopping for Knowledge (pp.14-17) Barry Schwartz explores

1. the loss of general education requirements, in particular the capstone course which was intended to teach students how to use their college education to live a good and an ethical life, both as indiviudals and as members of society and 2. the purchasing of goods such as classes and degrees.

I cannot help but agree with his conclusion (which by the way emphasizes to me the need for parents, students, and local congregrations to walk through the preparation for and consideration of various forms of higher education),

Now students are required to make choices about education that may affect them the rest of their lives. And they are forced to make these choices at a point in their intellectual development when they may lack the resources to make them intelligently.

I'd be curious as to how this Professor of Social Theory and Social Action at Swarthmore College would suggest an new direction for his campus, for higher education. He comments later in the book the confusion of bright Swathmore students with many opportunities for future direction and how it precipitates what another author has termed the Quarterlife Crisis. And at the end, the value of social relationships to the whole economy, but how is this imparted? Few students bring it with them to the campus.

In my view, campuses should return to the core curriculum in general, of course our alma mater Grove City College did not

let us down in this area. But how does one advocate general educaton, core curriculum, capstone, etc, when most institutions of higher education no longer have an agreed upon identity more than a business with a particular alumni donor friendly heritage which markets excellence in experience and job placement to parents and student customers? Maybe a truly pluralistic campus can set the table with a variety of reasons for living, working, and relating . . . even providing an opportunity to critique materialism, consumerism, and comparitivism as helpful societal lenses. But a broader shared vision/story is necessary for the functioning of institutions and a society/culture as a whole, particularly a story which goes beyond measuring life by materialism, consumerism, and comparitivism. How about it Neil Postman fans seeking The End of Education before it ends :-) Check out my review.

Previous posts in this series include:

Paradox of Choice