In queer and present danger.

[goblin_marketer]

NEWS: GOP lawmakers: Fire college professors for 'queer theory'

I found this rather ridiculous, but also a bit alarming. I doubt that the impulse is exclusive to Georgia. I'm a grad student and writing instructor at this point, so I'm using queer theory more than teaching it, so I can't really speak to any experiences with this, though I've

Comments

[roseofjuly]

Calvin Hill, another State Representative, took issue with the University of Georgia's graduate program on queer theory. "Our job is to educate our people in sciences, business, math," said Hill, a vice chairman of the budget-writing House Appropriations Committee. He said professors aren't going to meet those needs "by teaching a class in queer theory."

So the sciences, business, and math are the only things that are important now? I mean, that's the attitude that legislators and lay public have had towards academia for a while, but it's strange to actually hear them come out and say it.

News flash: where are your business leaders going to learn how to write reports? Or find the main idea in a 15-page summary of some new project they have to work on? For that matter, how are they going to learn to interact with the rest of the world who isn't regressing in terms of civil rights?

I also have my doubts that any of these people actually know what queer theory is, and that it has little to do with sexual behavior.

[lostreality]

I love how the "important" fields are also the male-dominated fields, while the female-dominated fields are the first ones cut (according to some lawmaker, who thankfully has no real say in the matter)

Did you hear they are fighting over the census now? The freakin census is political! They might actually count all the poor peoples, OH NOES!!

[biascut]

say it with me, kids: only female-dominated at the most junior levels!

(At least, that's the case in the UK and Ireland. I can point to a dozen departments which are 75:25 female:male at undergraduate level, changing to 50:50 by upper-postgraduate level, and you're lucky if it's 1:10 by professorial (very senior) status.)

Edited for rogue apostrophe!

[coendou]

Well, I'll bet they won't be cutting their schools of ed.

[aileen8aalien]

We're just going to hear more and more of this. As long as it looks like the US is lagging behind other countries in the basics (reading, writing, and arithmetic) there is going to be a continual scrutinizing of "fluff" areas, i.e. the humanities in general. This isn't the first time it's happened and it won't be the last. Just be prepared to develop other "practical" skills along with your major area of research. Lawmakers and politicians don't care about creating good people or strong thinkers, they only care about controlling those aspects of society that they should have little to no business controlling.

And quite frankly, state schools have been all too eager to take money from their governments without thinking about the day they would be asked to show what they've done.

[lesbiassparrow]

And quite frankly, state schools have been all too eager to take money from their governments without thinking about the day they would be asked to show what they've done.

The irony is that some of the most savage cuts have been at the level where most practical subjects are taught - the community colleges. And with these they then turn around and insist because students are getting an obvious benefit from the program they should pay more money up front.

[lesbiassparrow]

News flash: where are your business leaders going to learn how to write reports? Or find the main idea in a 15-page summary of some new project they have to work on? For that matter, how are they going to learn to interact with the rest of the world who isn't regressing in terms of civil rights?

Well, to be fair to them they are not willing to fund basic writing programs either, so they are at least consistent in that.

[gramarye1971]

Which may partly explain why the corporate and government documents that I copyedit on a regular basis frequently cite Wikipedia articles as informed sources.