Regarding your "Wreckage of Endowed Chairs" Column

Submitted by Bryan Taplits (United States), Sep 5, 2021 at 15:45

Dr. Pipes:

It was a very nice and informative column. But I believe you ignored the main reason-in my opinion- the professorariat teaches in a woke and non-rigorous manner nowadays.

"Boredom" with their subject is, in my opinion, the reason.

They may know the subject and details of history backwards-and-forwards (as we'd expect a Harvard professor would), but now the opportunity to appear woke adds a new dimension and gives a new opportunity to teach differently.

No longer is it necessary to go over the monotonous details of dates and geography that pertain to history. Now you can relate it (like any showman can) to a new class of learning which the telling of history could relate to.

Being woke and trendy gives you that new possibility (and, of course, institutional bias now protects the professor's security).

Thus, the aim is not anymore to go over the facts of history, the aim now is to relate and mold the facts into a tendentious narrative. The by-product of this new way of teaching is to entertain the student (that is true), but more importantly it is to test, entertain and challenge the professor since he can now relate new ideas to old facts.

The new life he breaths into his/her course also-by ignoring the basic facts of his course-asphyxiates any essential knowledge that goes against the storyline. But he/she doesn't care since history must be relearned.

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