The College Fix

OPINION: Higher education researchers show how it is possible to get a good education at an Ivy League university – or waste a lot of time learning little

Ivy League students have “significant latitude” when it comes to general education requirements, which means they can pick good classes on Dante or the Roman Republic, or waste time learning about learning science through Disney films, as Cornell University students can do.

In the book “Slacking,” authors Adam Kissel, Madison Doan, and Rachel Cambre comb through thousands of general education courses at the eight Ivy League universities to find the best and worst courses. Encounter Books provided The College Fix an advanced copy of the book, set for publishing on May 6.

The main problem is there is little expectation for students to gain a common base of knowledge.

“Core curricula historically guaranteed consistency for under graduates, reflecting a wise faculty’s determination of the knowledge and academic skills most worth having,” the authors write to begin the book. “Today, however, most general education requirements in the Ivies are so general—some arts here, some sciences there—that they are simply another opportunity for undirected self-actualization.”

Doan and Kissel both work at the Heritage Foundation, while Cambre teaches at the conservative Catholic Belmont Abbey College.

All are clearly conservative – but this book is not simply another right-wing tract griping about liberal bias in higher education. Rather, it shows through actual examples how there are numerous nonsense courses in the Ivies – and students can get an undergraduate degree without delving into Shakespeare, learning biology, or engaging with great philosophical works.

At the same time, the authors do try to identify potentially worthwhile classes, practicing significant charity to find something worth taking. As they note, “teaching Dante badly at least exposes a student to Dante, whereas it’s hard to see how teaching Cardi B (as at Cornell) is edifying at all.”

Take Harvard, for example.

Students can fulfill the “Aesthetics and Culture” requirement by taking a class called “Anime as Global Popular Culture.” Or, they can spend their time wisely in a class called “The Ancient Greek Hero.”

Yet, the authors say none of the “Expository Writing” courses are worth the time, including a class on “the complex relationship of race to American sports culture and the political dynamics of consequential events within the sporting world” and another called “Queer Coming of Age Stories.”

Each chapter roughly follows this format – the authors explain the general education requirements and pick out the best and worst at each school.

Readers may be surprised to find the most praise saved for Columbia University. The university, unlike many of its peers, “declares that particular content in each core subject area is what students should learn,” instead of simply giving hundreds of options for “history,” for example.

One requirement, “Contemporary Civilization,” wins praise from the authors for covering Plato and the Bible. However, a spring option for the course includes Adam Smith and Immanuel Kant, but also covers “race,gender, and sexuality” and “anti-colonialism.”

Students can also take classes on “Game of Thrones” and “Blackness and Frenchness.”

Despite some inadequacies, “compared to the rest of the Ivy League, the college curriculum at Columbia University stands out.”

One of the authors, Madison Doan, provided further commentary to The Fix about how universities got themselves into this situation – and how they can dig themselves out of it.

Asked how the number of courses grew and became so varied, Doan said “open curriculum colleges” have to “work to attract students to attend their classes rather than having set classes such as English, history of Western civilization.”

“[S]o the types of classes that arise are more and more wacky and focused on identity politics, or pop culture to appeal to 18-year-old high school graduates,” Doan said via email.

The book could also be a wake-up call for both Ivy League trustees and other universities.

“Rather than becoming preoccupied with campus controversies, mandated initiatives, or transient political pressures, they should prioritize the protection of free expression and promoting a robust, foundational core curriculum,” Doan said.

“This core curriculum should be grounded in the classics of Western civilization and emphasize the mastery of essential facts and skills, ensuring that students graduate with a broad-based education in disciplines such as English, mathematics, history, and the sciences,” she said.

“By doing so, universities can better fulfill their mission of developing thoughtful, capable, and well-rounded graduates.”

MORE: College grads enter workforce with their worthless degree

IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: The book cover for ‘Slacking’; Encounter Books

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