tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924468951154826009.post8889205534427592653..comments2023-07-14T09:06:23.024-04:00Comments on Wordshed: Here I go again on my ownUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924468951154826009.post-16084033313111492432012-08-22T14:54:43.902-04:002012-08-22T14:54:43.902-04:00Points well taken. I also wonder where these attit...Points well taken. I also wonder where these attitudes are being reinforced. I remember not *wanting* to look stupid in undergrad and grad school. Now I see students not wanting to look smart. Maybe it was always that way? (Admittedly, I was/am a nerd.)<br /><br />One another perhaps related note, I've heard the first week of class referred to as "syllabus week," implying that there's no reason to attend? New freshmen aren't learning that in high school ... they're learning that from us. JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10999191800351157731noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924468951154826009.post-66776828586353294582012-08-21T23:09:46.103-04:002012-08-21T23:09:46.103-04:00I think the point is that students seem to know le...I think the point is that students seem to know less and less. I knew that America had a Civil War and that Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, not that "old dude with a beard." E.D. Hirsch was on to something when he coined the tern cultural literacy. There are some things that every American should know, every French person should know about Racine et al., and I suppose there are things that everyone in the world should know. <br />Does anyone remember "The Paper Chase" and Professor Kingsfield? "You come to me with your minds filled with mush, but you leave here thinking like lawyers, " he told his Harvard law class.<br />Our students come to us with their minds filled with mush and leave with their minds filled with mush.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00344765955117592602noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924468951154826009.post-38275765433891220272011-08-25T09:43:32.125-04:002011-08-25T09:43:32.125-04:00I had to look up the list. It is mildly humorous b...I had to look up the list. It is mildly humorous but I can't grasp why anyone should feel superior because they understand their own cultural period better than people from a different period. I'd venture there are all sorts of current cultural references that older folks don't get either. Has it not always been so? ;)Ronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03365659851659575619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924468951154826009.post-66713229960536584602011-08-25T09:42:24.056-04:002011-08-25T09:42:24.056-04:00I had to look up the list. It is mildly humorous b...I had to look up the list. It is mildly humorous but I can't grasp why anyone should feel superior because they understand their own cultural period better than people from a different period. I'd venture there are all sorts of current cultural references that older folks don't get either. Has it not always been so? ;)Ronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03365659851659575619noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924468951154826009.post-43978853123307142822011-08-25T08:00:27.913-04:002011-08-25T08:00:27.913-04:00@mg, well, he lost in back-to-back mindsets, anywa...@mg, well, he lost in back-to-back mindsets, anyway.NYMaryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10863355110457910935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924468951154826009.post-49917298926477802562010-08-19T19:27:24.114-04:002010-08-19T19:27:24.114-04:00Amen. You helped me understand why *I* hate that ...Amen. You helped me understand why *I* hate that list, too, Jim.<br /><br />My "kids today" moment in college happened when a modern poetry prof lambasted us all for not knowing who Albert Schweitzer was. I still don't quite get why that particular lack was the one that set him off, but isn't that the whole point? Different generations value different kinds of knowledge. Duh.Rosemaryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10223441754197927551noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7924468951154826009.post-39769436627456182472010-08-19T13:23:19.689-04:002010-08-19T13:23:19.689-04:00Is it true that John McEnroe never played a mindse...Is it true that John McEnroe never played a mindset?mgnoreply@blogger.com