PrintDecember 22, 2013
The American Studies Association Is a Joke
My Israeli colleagues have complained that the American Studies Association's recent boycott of Israeli universities and scholars is a betrayal of Israel by America. Apparently, my Israeli colleagues know little about American studies.
Almost no one on an American campus takes American studies seriously. As direct government subsidies to higher education decline, universities need more and more students paying higher and higher tuition.
But not only do institutions have to lure students; they also have to retain them. So what are you going to do with the sociology and political science majors who cannot get through the simple descriptive statistics requirements? A good history department requires advanced foreign language proficiency. English literature requires an ability to write a fluid paragraph and a facility to think in terms of allegory and metaphor. The business school requires well-honed quantitative...(Read Full Article)
