Thursday, November 05, 2009

Nerd News: Professors Comment on "the Suicide of the Social Sciences"

I didn't make up the phrase "suicide of the social sciences." Professor Elizabeth Sundin, professor in business administration and management at Linkoping University, Sweden, did -- and she's absolutely right.

Take a look at this article about the sad state of academia that was sent to be me by Thalia, aka California Dreamer. It's a summary of a recent conference of nerds in Brussels to discuss the mess that is higher education -- especially in Europe (though, of course, it's a big mess here in the States too).

One point that struck me especially -- the constant search for novelty in research. It makes professional nerds look like a bunch of trend-seeking, fad-obsessed adolescents with no attention spans. Notice too the almost total lack of emphasis placed on good teaching.

Bonus: the article actually uses the words "academic narcissism" to lambast the current self-inflicted bonfire of the humanities.

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