Re: one of two questions (fwd)

Renny Christopher (rchristo@toto.csustan.edu)
Wed, 15 May 1996 16:08:12 -0400

Eide wrote:
>
> The second question could be phrased like this: why did
>academia decline so precipitously from the 60's onward? Those
>of us who remember going to college in the 60's remember the
>excitement, vitality, connectedness between academia and the
>rest of the world, flashing ideas that challenged every orthodoxy
>in and out of the academic world etc.

Many of us who did not go to college in the sixties--those of us raised in
the working-class world--did not feel any "connectedness" between the world
of academia and our world.

> The academic world is now seen (by the looming society around
>it) as a marginal arm of the public sector that is supported mainly
>for its research/development capabilities--that, and strong football/
>basketball programs. What happened? Why does the academic world,
>generally, lack credibility and/or compelling interest?

I would have to say that it's because the academic world is, for the most
part, elitist. Even as an academic myself, now, I experience it that way.
And most people simply aren't interested in being overlooked, spoken for,
insulted, disrespected, and talked jargon at.

Renny Christopher
rchristo@toto.csustan.edu