I Will Create A Winning Basketball Program At The University Of Austin
November 13, 2021 6:13 AM Subscribe
"We begin with the simple home truths of winning basketball, albeit from a perspective grounded in a free-market and inquiry-forward approach to the game that rejects the cringing 'correctness' that holds back ostensibly enlightened CUSA programs like Rice and Florida Atlantic. My Meritocrats will talk on defense, but not about defense—by engaging opponents on more important questions, we will leverage our program’s discursive advantages. The goal is to be an exhausting and infuriating opponent, and I believe we will achieve this in year one." (From Defector, requires e-mail sign-up)
Further background on the recently-founded University of Austin.
Further background on the recently-founded University of Austin.
"This is who and what we’re dealing with, here—the greasy grievance goblins that Weiss associates with professionally, and the grouchy sawdust-brained establishment types likely to be impressed or amused by people like that, all working to service the specific involuted gripes of the type of rich cretin that all of the aforementioned live to serve. There is a whole parallel discourse of this shit. It is outwardly sophisticated in an antique way, but always as vapid and predictable as the broader reactionary outrage marketplace of which it is the most upscale part; its leading figures invoke Plato and Cicero much more often in getting upset about whatever lower-brow conservative media types are getting upset about that day, but also get exactly as upset about exactly the same garbage in effectively the same ways."
This paragraph belongs on the wall of an art gallery.
posted by mhoye at 7:21 AM on November 13, 2021 [32 favorites]
This paragraph belongs on the wall of an art gallery.
posted by mhoye at 7:21 AM on November 13, 2021 [32 favorites]
This one’s not bad either
Whatever it winds up being, though, the University of Austin promises to be an institution dedicated to litigating the same hoary “forbidden questions” about race and gender and The West that have been beguiling stupid people for generations, and to creating some institutional credibility around the small, wrong answers those people want those questions to have; it will be, as Sarah Jones put it, “a Bible college for libertarians.”
posted by cybrcamper at 7:28 AM on November 13, 2021 [16 favorites]
Whatever it winds up being, though, the University of Austin promises to be an institution dedicated to litigating the same hoary “forbidden questions” about race and gender and The West that have been beguiling stupid people for generations, and to creating some institutional credibility around the small, wrong answers those people want those questions to have; it will be, as Sarah Jones put it, “a Bible college for libertarians.”
posted by cybrcamper at 7:28 AM on November 13, 2021 [16 favorites]
I take it back, this whole thing belongs on the wall of an art gallery. The idea that teamwork is inherently socialist and that you can make a sports team out of self-directed libertarians is brilliant. I would absolutely pay money to watch a season of that team getting steamrolled flatter than the Washington Generals every game.
posted by mhoye at 7:28 AM on November 13, 2021 [25 favorites]
posted by mhoye at 7:28 AM on November 13, 2021 [25 favorites]
Well Actually is the new Hail Mary.
posted by mhoye at 7:32 AM on November 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by mhoye at 7:32 AM on November 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
Of course, a smug and empty argumentativeness haphazardly marshaled in the service of an unjust and untenable status quo can only take a basketball team so farThe 2010 Miami Heat beg to differ.
posted by Mayor West at 7:32 AM on November 13, 2021 [14 favorites]
Metafilter: “not up to Stanford’s standards for being normal”
posted by TheCoug at 7:35 AM on November 13, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by TheCoug at 7:35 AM on November 13, 2021 [4 favorites]
I mean I think we all know this team will be very scrapy, filled with gym rats who almost play like another coach on the floor, but are surprisingly athletic.
posted by JPD at 7:44 AM on November 13, 2021 [9 favorites]
posted by JPD at 7:44 AM on November 13, 2021 [9 favorites]
Joe Rogan is gonna get himself a position at this weird-ass "university", isn't he?
posted by Kitteh at 8:03 AM on November 13, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by Kitteh at 8:03 AM on November 13, 2021 [6 favorites]
archive.org link
I was going to post the Defector article as part of a more general "University" of "Austin" FPP, but then vacation plans intervened. Might as well share the other links here.
Sarah Jones, New York Magazine: Who’s Afraid of Higher Education?
posted by tonycpsu at 8:05 AM on November 13, 2021 [43 favorites]
I was going to post the Defector article as part of a more general "University" of "Austin" FPP, but then vacation plans intervened. Might as well share the other links here.
Sarah Jones, New York Magazine: Who’s Afraid of Higher Education?
Consider the parties involved. As a student at Columbia University, Weiss developed a censorious reputation of her own. A campus organization Weiss co-founded “did demand that the administration change the department’s curriculum and make it easier to file complaints against professors, measures that would have affected certain scholars’ responsibilities and duties, as well as their future job prospects,” the writers Mari Cohen and Joshua Leifer observed in Jewish Currents. Weiss and her fellow activists targeted Arab professors for speech they deemed hostile to Israel, efforts she’s since downplayed to better portray herself as a campaigner for free expression. A University of Austin “founding faculty fellow” Ayaan Hirsi Ali, has called Islam “a nihilstic cult of death” and has claimed that violence is inherent to the religion, which bodes ill for any Muslim who might wish to attend the new university. The new university’s positions on sex and gender aren’t hard to guess, either. Another fellow, the anti-trans academic Kathleen Stock, voluntarily resigned her position at the University of Sussex, claiming that student protests curtailed her own academic freedom. Put another way, Stock found free expression a bit too lively to tolerate. [...]Alex Shephard, New Republic: Do We Really Need an Anti-Woke University?
What we’ve got, then, is a Bible college for libertarians. Those disturbed by progress will find shelter on campus. Pledging freedom from wokeness, the University of Austin actually seeks freedom from free exchange. There is a soupçon of social liberalism, which extends no further than equality for LGB people and not to trans people and which is too inadequate to greatly distinguish the school from other conservative institutions. In this university, Falwell would see kindred minds. There’s nothing new here.
Much is made about the University of Austin’s insistence on “free inquiry” and its dogmatic commitment to free speech. But despite the wider critique of higher education’s obsession with identity politics, the University of Austin appears to be more invested in these questions than any college or university I can think of—even Oberlin. Two of its three founding faculty members, Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Kathleen Stock, have been criticized for Islamophobia and transphobia, respectively. Far from being an institution freed from the concerns of identity politics, it’s far more likely that the University of Austin will relentlessly burrow into issues of identity—the nail these hammer-wielders already see everywhere. This, coupled with the nod to Musk and Rogan, suggests that, rather than free inquiry and debate, what you will get at the University of Austin is a student body intent on nothing more than owning the libs—and making bombastic and likely offensive claims about issues of race and gender. It’s Liberty University but for the unwoke—except, of course, so is Liberty University.Roy Edrosso: Forbidden Courses Revealed!
Masculinity workshopMichael Harriot, The Root: Hogwarts for Wypipo: Acclaimed Caucasian Race Theorists Set to Open Whitest College Ever
Senator Josh Hawley
The Manly Man from Missouri does more than just alert Americans to the leftist threat against manhood — in this class he also makes men so butch no leftist can turn them. Don’t worry, it’s not “Fight Club” — unless you mean intellectually! Hawley equips you with verbal manhood skills, such as pointing out the insufficient masculinity of one’s enemies and praising the rough-hewn strength of Donald Trump. Hawley will also share his personal hair care, nail care and moisturizer regimen for maximum muscularity. Bonus: Senator Ted Cruz stops by to discuss his makeover. Final lecture: “Empathy is Low-T.”
A group of anti-woke academic activists has united to establish the University of Austin, a private non-profit institution dedicated to students who are too busy being attacked by the woke mob to learn things because privilege and whiteness already armed them with everything they need to know. Instead of information, the university will focus on the Caucasian concepts euphemized by buzzwords like “free thought” and “Western civilization.”Aaron R. Hanlon, New Republic: Have the Founders of the University of Austin Been in a Classroom Lately?
Although people who read books know that “western civilization” is just something white people made up because they had no idea that democracy, philosophy, monotheism and the pursuit of knowledge existed long before white people stopped believing the entire world consisted of the European continent (which is not really a continent but we call it a continent because, back then, Europeans couldn’t look at a map of the world and google: “Why is Europe a continent?”).
But you wouldn’t learn that at this school because, at the Institute for White Studies, “free thought” is just another way of saying: “Why do I have to believe facts just because they’re true?”
[...]
Although this HBCU (Historically Bullshit Caucasian University) only exists in the minds of white people, it must be real because the New York Times reported on it! And if we are going to treat white people’s imaginations as if they are real things, then I have also found a selection of ten courses that probably might be potentially offered at the University of Austin:
The Fighting Yakubians will play in the Continental Region of the Athletic Conference for Knowledge and American Sports (CRACKAS). Aaron Rodgers has already pledged that his firstborn son will start at quarterback in 2040 (as long as Joe Rogan says it's ok).
- Political Pseudoscience 112: This freshman-level course will teach students how to suppress Black voters, why vote totals don’t matter and why Jesus wants them to vote Republican.
- Wypiponomics 210: Students learn why welfare and government handouts will bankrupt America but tax loopholes, farm subsidies and zero-interest loans eventually “trickle down.”
- Religion 400: Covers the four major white religious deities: Jesus Christ (the white one), the Founding Fathers, Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump.
- White History 101: This class teaches why the Constitution wasn’t about white supremacy just because it made white people supreme. Students will also discover how the brave men of the South won the War for States’ Rights and how the Democratic Party was responsible for slavery even though it didn’t start until 1828.
- Karenology 320: Mostly about speaking to managers.
- Critical Racist Theory 600: This graduate course will explain why white people don’t need to learn about slavery, Jim Crow or racism but still love Confederate flags, the “greatest generation” and “American values.”
- Cultural Philosophy 103: This course is about theoretical cultures such as cancel culture, washcloths, having a “black friend,” and seasoning food.
- Western Civilization 210: The importance of western culture is explained by their discoveries in science, math, philosophy, medicine and language that they developed centuries after Asia, Africa and other advanced cultures.
- Mythology 305: Investigates the origins of popular unconfirmed myths including white privilege, racism and the belief that legs need washing.
- Black History 101: Obviously this is an elective.
It’s true that in most college classes you won’t find an emphasis on lively debate over divisive issues, because that’s largely not what class time is for. The UATX founders say they’ll hear every opinion, and every opinion must be supported by evidence, but not all opinions have evidentiary support. Knowledge comes first in the classroom. Staking out an opinion in search of evidence has the process exactly backward. Professors spend most of our class time teaching and leading discussions over technical matters, building knowledge from particulars. It’s easy to see this in the natural sciences, computer science, and mathematics—not because these fields entertain no value questions or moral controversies but because you have 75 minutes on a Tuesday to introduce shell commands in Python or the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum mechanics. But social science and humanities course material is also technical. Forget arguing over “deeper meaning,” just try scanning Alexander Pope’s Essay on Criticism, covering the history of the heroic couplet, and explaining Pope’s classical references in 75 minutes just to help students looking at this kind of writing for the first time develop a solid paraphrase of what’s going on. That’s a normal class for me. Class discussions can be lively, even contentious, but proceed from technical instruction, not political commitments.@georgeciveris: A non-accredited, non-research university that does not confer degrees... mama that's a book club.
Even if you don’t buy this account of the classroom experience for all subjects, it’s hard to believe the typical college classroom is stifling and hyperpoliticized if we examine this question at scale. Of the roughly two million bachelor’s degrees conferred in 2018–19, according to the latest data in the National Center for Education Statistics 2021 digest, the most popular fields are business (390,564 degrees), health professions (251,355 degrees), social sciences and history (160,628 degrees), engineering (126,827 degrees), and biological and biomedical sciences (121,191 degrees). The intensity with which pundits target area, ethnic, cultural, gender, and group studies as an illiberal force in higher education is out of step with the sheer number of students in those courses: 7,724 degrees were awarded in the field in 2018–19, or one-seventh the number awarded in homeland security, law enforcement, and firefighting (57,339).
posted by tonycpsu at 8:05 AM on November 13, 2021 [43 favorites]
I see a lot of bright faces headed to Fox and OAN, spittle launching from their spasming lips, selfish outrage inside.
Going to see alot more precious snowflakes in Austin.
posted by nickggully at 8:14 AM on November 13, 2021
From the second link, the following combination of passages made me (my union currently being in contract negotiations with a recalcitrant administration) laugh:
So, basically the same sort of financial scam that these sort of politics always seem to boil down to?
posted by eviemath at 8:16 AM on November 13, 2021 [7 favorites]
Kanelos said the proposed university has received a lot of financial support, raising $10 million in private donations in two months, allowing it to hire about seven staff members.meanwhile
The University of Austin’s website also promises a new, more affordable tuition model made possible with low administrative costs and fewer amenities than a traditional college campus.
Kanelos estimates tuition would be about half of the average annual cost of attending a typical private university, or “$30,000.” Founders aim to raise $250 million to launch the undergraduate and graduate program over the next few years.
So, basically the same sort of financial scam that these sort of politics always seem to boil down to?
posted by eviemath at 8:16 AM on November 13, 2021 [7 favorites]
Larry Summers is among the founders. Why he continues to have any cred whatsoever among mainstream liberals is beyond me.
posted by splitpeasoup at 8:19 AM on November 13, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by splitpeasoup at 8:19 AM on November 13, 2021 [6 favorites]
it will be, as Sarah Jones put it, “a Bible college for libertarians.”
And that's at best. The people heading this thing up believe fucked-up shit like that the Jan 6 coup was ultimately caused by "wokeness" and that supporting trans rights will bring about a second Holocaust, and it certainly looks like their target audience is the Kyle Rittenhouses of the world.
posted by Glegrinof the Pig-Man at 8:27 AM on November 13, 2021 [7 favorites]
And that's at best. The people heading this thing up believe fucked-up shit like that the Jan 6 coup was ultimately caused by "wokeness" and that supporting trans rights will bring about a second Holocaust, and it certainly looks like their target audience is the Kyle Rittenhouses of the world.
posted by Glegrinof the Pig-Man at 8:27 AM on November 13, 2021 [7 favorites]
Blue state AGs waiting for their turn to sue this grift out of existence.
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 9:24 AM on November 13, 2021 [5 favorites]
posted by Your Childhood Pet Rock at 9:24 AM on November 13, 2021 [5 favorites]
As an aside, I casually tolerate sports reporting, but my Defector subscription is worth it’s weight in gold. First, you get pieces like this on the regular, and second it feel great to support a truly employee-owned and managed enterprise. Third, besides MF, it’s the only place in the internet I read the comments top to bottom.
Their subscribers slipped a bit between year one and two, so if you’re interested in truly independent journalism, consider checking them out. I think most MeFites would feel very at home.
posted by hwyengr at 9:27 AM on November 13, 2021 [14 favorites]
Their subscribers slipped a bit between year one and two, so if you’re interested in truly independent journalism, consider checking them out. I think most MeFites would feel very at home.
posted by hwyengr at 9:27 AM on November 13, 2021 [14 favorites]
Not a single shovel in the ground yet, but the Twitter accounts are already up and spinning:
The University of Austin (UATX)
University of Austin Admissions
University of Austin Advancement
University Of Austin Sustainability
University of Austin Chemistry
University of Austin Classics (UATX)
The University of Austin (UATX) Communication Dept
University of Austin Department of Genetics
University of Austin Mathematics Department
University of Austin Medical (UATX)
University of Austin Philosophy Department
University of Austin Physics and Astronomy
(Parodies. Maybe.)
posted by hangashore at 9:33 AM on November 13, 2021 [12 favorites]
The University of Austin (UATX)
University of Austin Admissions
University of Austin Advancement
University Of Austin Sustainability
University of Austin Chemistry
University of Austin Classics (UATX)
The University of Austin (UATX) Communication Dept
University of Austin Department of Genetics
University of Austin Mathematics Department
University of Austin Medical (UATX)
University of Austin Philosophy Department
University of Austin Physics and Astronomy
(Parodies. Maybe.)
posted by hangashore at 9:33 AM on November 13, 2021 [12 favorites]
that is a great piece
posted by glonous keming at 9:36 AM on November 13, 2021
posted by glonous keming at 9:36 AM on November 13, 2021
"Free speech for meeee, cancellation for thee"
posted by eustatic at 9:36 AM on November 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by eustatic at 9:36 AM on November 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
Joe Rogan is gonna get himself a position at this weird-ass "university", isn't he?
If there is going to be one single building of this slo-mo-clusterfuck thing that's actually built out, it will be the stadium, where the student/culture warriors in the tenth-filled seats will raptly watch JoRo's show on the scoreboard. (There would be plenty of crusty old oligarchs willing to donate funds for the stadium's construction, although it will be oyster forks at dawn for the naming rights.)
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:56 AM on November 13, 2021 [3 favorites]
If there is going to be one single building of this slo-mo-clusterfuck thing that's actually built out, it will be the stadium, where the student/culture warriors in the tenth-filled seats will raptly watch JoRo's show on the scoreboard. (There would be plenty of crusty old oligarchs willing to donate funds for the stadium's construction, although it will be oyster forks at dawn for the naming rights.)
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:56 AM on November 13, 2021 [3 favorites]
Jonathan Haidt makes highbrow arguments about how there's supposedly two kinds of universities: those devoted to the pursuit of Truth and those devoted to the pursuit of a political agenda.
He then, hilariously, claims that this would not be one of those universities devoted to the pursuit of a political agenda.
posted by straight at 12:20 PM on November 13, 2021 [4 favorites]
He then, hilariously, claims that this would not be one of those universities devoted to the pursuit of a political agenda.
posted by straight at 12:20 PM on November 13, 2021 [4 favorites]
As a St. John's College Annapolis alum, it has been a cringing time to watch ex president Kanelos causing SJC to seem adjacent to this bullshit. We are very fortunate that SJC absolutely values having faculty who are not media darlings because the books, not the tutors, are the teachers. Can't imagine Bari Weiss or Andrew Sullivan standing for that approach to education.
This article I found incredibly helpful in thinking about why there aren't more conservative universities: Will the University of Austin Succeed? The track record of right-wing breakaway colleges is littered with instructive failures. (Adam Laats for Slate)
There are conservative universities--Bob Jones, Moody, Wheaton--but nobody takes them seriously outside of the fundamentalist circles that founded them. And they are surrounded by the ruins of heaps of others that never got off the ground.
posted by hydropsyche at 1:10 PM on November 13, 2021 [6 favorites]
This article I found incredibly helpful in thinking about why there aren't more conservative universities: Will the University of Austin Succeed? The track record of right-wing breakaway colleges is littered with instructive failures. (Adam Laats for Slate)
There are conservative universities--Bob Jones, Moody, Wheaton--but nobody takes them seriously outside of the fundamentalist circles that founded them. And they are surrounded by the ruins of heaps of others that never got off the ground.
posted by hydropsyche at 1:10 PM on November 13, 2021 [6 favorites]
They are in pursuit of the truth in exactly the same way that poachers are in pursuit of nature.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:11 PM on November 13, 2021 [13 favorites]
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 1:11 PM on November 13, 2021 [13 favorites]
My favorite sentence: The goal is to be an exhausting and infuriating opponent, and I believe we will achieve this in year one.
posted by TedW at 1:43 PM on November 13, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by TedW at 1:43 PM on November 13, 2021 [6 favorites]
Jonathan Haidt makes highbrow arguments about how there's supposedly two kinds of universities: those devoted to the pursuit of Truth and those devoted to the pursuit of a political agenda.
He then, hilariously, claims that this would not be one of those universities devoted to the pursuit of a political agenda.
That's former liberal Jonathon Haidt. You should call him by his chosen title even if he hasn't been a liberal in...checks calendar....an eon.
posted by srboisvert at 2:02 PM on November 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
He then, hilariously, claims that this would not be one of those universities devoted to the pursuit of a political agenda.
That's former liberal Jonathon Haidt. You should call him by his chosen title even if he hasn't been a liberal in...checks calendar....an eon.
posted by srboisvert at 2:02 PM on November 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
Is this the physical manifestation of the Heterodorks Academy?
posted by srboisvert at 2:05 PM on November 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by srboisvert at 2:05 PM on November 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
Speaking as someone who puts words together pretty often, this article is written so well it makes me nervous.
posted by JHarris at 4:02 PM on November 13, 2021 [8 favorites]
posted by JHarris at 4:02 PM on November 13, 2021 [8 favorites]
There's also "Bari Weiss: I hear congratulations on your Palestine Studies department are in order?" (Guardian, Moustafa Bayoumi)
posted by trig at 4:29 PM on November 13, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by trig at 4:29 PM on November 13, 2021 [4 favorites]
Don't forget Alexandra Petri.
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 5:26 PM on November 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by CheeseDigestsAll at 5:26 PM on November 13, 2021 [2 favorites]
Joe Rogan is gonna get himself a position at this weird-ass "university,” isn't he?
I feel like he’s going to be a department head.
posted by SisterHavana at 6:06 PM on November 13, 2021
I feel like he’s going to be a department head.
posted by SisterHavana at 6:06 PM on November 13, 2021
I doubt this is the solution, but the lack of conservatives in academia is a problem. "In many fields, not just mine, conservative estrangement from our professional and academic communities damages discourse on both sides of the partisan divide."
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 6:20 PM on November 13, 2021 [3 favorites]
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 6:20 PM on November 13, 2021 [3 favorites]
Thanks for the link. That was some great writing.
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 6:32 PM on November 13, 2021
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 6:32 PM on November 13, 2021
I mean I think we all know this team will be very scrapy, filled with gym rats who almost play like another coach on the floor, but are surprisingly athletic.
And each one of them has had their skull measured for high basketball IQ.
posted by fleacircus at 7:15 PM on November 13, 2021 [4 favorites]
And each one of them has had their skull measured for high basketball IQ.
posted by fleacircus at 7:15 PM on November 13, 2021 [4 favorites]
The author of the piece that Mr. Know-it-some linked may have a bit of a point with respect to his specific discipline (though I expect that greater diversity in economic and racial background would suffice to fill the gaps he identifies; though too it must be said that I also don’t have hard data to back up my assertions either), but his argument went off the rails by the part where he was holding up police fraternal organizations as his (one) example of unions gone awry.
posted by eviemath at 8:00 PM on November 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by eviemath at 8:00 PM on November 13, 2021 [1 favorite]
There's plenty of conservatives in academia if you look at who gets the econ, finance, poli sci and law degrees.
Arts and sciences might have more prestige but they also pay less.
posted by subdee at 9:36 PM on November 13, 2021 [5 favorites]
Arts and sciences might have more prestige but they also pay less.
posted by subdee at 9:36 PM on November 13, 2021 [5 favorites]
Actually, maybe not law. The other three though, definitely. Why can't conservatives be happy with the money and power they can obtain through their support of the status quo? Why do they also need to win in the arena of culture?
posted by subdee at 9:44 PM on November 13, 2021
posted by subdee at 9:44 PM on November 13, 2021
That's some bullshit. Oh conservatives have spent decades destroying people's ability to believe public health authorities and have some good points about public unions. Ugh I mean yes it's important public health needs to reach everyone, but that's a saying about leading a horse to water too.
posted by Carillon at 10:58 PM on November 13, 2021 [6 favorites]
posted by Carillon at 10:58 PM on November 13, 2021 [6 favorites]
Because the culture says it's no longer ok to be a bigoted jerk face. Because the culture says that accepting people who are different is good, no matter how scary to the orthodoxy.
posted by Jacen at 4:09 AM on November 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by Jacen at 4:09 AM on November 14, 2021 [1 favorite]
I doubt this is the solution, but the lack of conservatives in academia is a problem. "In many fields, not just mine, conservative estrangement from our professional and academic communities damages discourse on both sides of the partisan divide."
To be clear this is absolutely not about conservatives. It is about Republicans and tribal political affiliations. It is not about conservative ideologies and beliefs. There are probably more small c conservatives in academic fields than there are genuine lefties.
posted by srboisvert at 5:27 AM on November 14, 2021 [13 favorites]
To be clear this is absolutely not about conservatives. It is about Republicans and tribal political affiliations. It is not about conservative ideologies and beliefs. There are probably more small c conservatives in academic fields than there are genuine lefties.
posted by srboisvert at 5:27 AM on November 14, 2021 [13 favorites]
I will say the U of A description makes me itch.
I believe it would be a good thing to have a sound technical university that doesn't cost more than necessary, but the U of A description has too much detail in the wrong places.
The whole focus seems to be on anti-wokeness, when I think there should be more attention on the academics. Do they intend to have engineering but not math as majors, or what?
Surely the most obvious thing to eliminate if you want to save money would be extramural sports.
I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out to be a failure or a scam.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 5:50 AM on November 14, 2021
I believe it would be a good thing to have a sound technical university that doesn't cost more than necessary, but the U of A description has too much detail in the wrong places.
The whole focus seems to be on anti-wokeness, when I think there should be more attention on the academics. Do they intend to have engineering but not math as majors, or what?
Surely the most obvious thing to eliminate if you want to save money would be extramural sports.
I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out to be a failure or a scam.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 5:50 AM on November 14, 2021
It sounds like that U Chicago public health professor just has an ax to grind with teachers and other public employees in unions. But he claims he's a "liberal". I suppose he's the type of liberal who thought " Waiting for Superman" was the solution to educational inequality. His suggestion of "affirmative action" for conservatives is risible. Right wing foundations already bankroll "wingnut welfare". "
And just try having another go at teachers and public employees. It would be hilarious. Schools are already having trouble with teacher and bus driver shortages. You'll have to hire the bad teachers before you can fire them.
What a clown. That guy is exhibit A of everything that's wrong with his field.
posted by eagles123 at 7:12 AM on November 14, 2021 [4 favorites]
And just try having another go at teachers and public employees. It would be hilarious. Schools are already having trouble with teacher and bus driver shortages. You'll have to hire the bad teachers before you can fire them.
What a clown. That guy is exhibit A of everything that's wrong with his field.
posted by eagles123 at 7:12 AM on November 14, 2021 [4 favorites]
I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out to be a failure or a scam.
Given that they’ve raised ten million dollars in two months, it seems to be successful as a scam.
posted by TedW at 8:19 AM on November 14, 2021 [3 favorites]
Given that they’ve raised ten million dollars in two months, it seems to be successful as a scam.
posted by TedW at 8:19 AM on November 14, 2021 [3 favorites]
I don’t why Politico even published that article by Pollack; most of his argument rests on imaginary anecdotes and straw men. “ Imagine two job candidates, Martin and Michael. Martin finds that cultural norms among recent immigrants promote upward mobility, and that the role of structural barriers to block that mobility is overstated—challenging the consensus in his field. Michael conducts an analysis of equally high quality, but finds the opposite result.…” And at this imaginary institution the imaginary professor who conducted the same imaginary analysis of the same imaginary data yet somehow comes to the opposite imaginary conclusion of his imaginary colleague will be more likely to be hired if said imaginary conclusion supports Pollack’s imaginary “liberal” consensus. And he reports the conservative charge that classrooms are somehow devoid of conservative viewpoints. It has been a long time since I was in college, but I don’t recall many political debates in the classrooms (the dorms were different, but there were plenty of conservatives there). If we were debating politics rather than learning the subject then the professor was clearly not doing his job. Although I understand a lot of conservatives have problems with things like evolution and the Big Bang, that is less the fault of academia than the fault of reality’s well-known liberal bias.
His “radical idea” of “affirmative action for conservatives” (how would that even work?) seems to be a slightly toned-down version of Eli hillbilly J. D. Vance’s recent claim that “professors are the enemy.” That whole argument is pretty convincingly taken apart by Benjamin Carter Hett: When politicians claim professors are the enemy, what are they really attacking?
posted by TedW at 9:29 AM on November 14, 2021 [5 favorites]
His “radical idea” of “affirmative action for conservatives” (how would that even work?) seems to be a slightly toned-down version of Eli hillbilly J. D. Vance’s recent claim that “professors are the enemy.” That whole argument is pretty convincingly taken apart by Benjamin Carter Hett: When politicians claim professors are the enemy, what are they really attacking?
posted by TedW at 9:29 AM on November 14, 2021 [5 favorites]
I mean I think we all know this team will be very scrapy, filled with gym rats who almost play like another coach on the floor, but are surprisingly athletic.
So much grit their court feels like sandpaper.
posted by Rock Steady at 8:07 AM on November 15, 2021 [4 favorites]
So much grit their court feels like sandpaper.
posted by Rock Steady at 8:07 AM on November 15, 2021 [4 favorites]
I don’t why Politico even published that article by Pollack; most of his argument rests on imaginary anecdotes and straw men.
If conservatives couldn't use imaginary anecdotes and straw men, they'd have no arguments at all.
posted by Gelatin at 8:13 AM on November 15, 2021 [8 favorites]
If conservatives couldn't use imaginary anecdotes and straw men, they'd have no arguments at all.
posted by Gelatin at 8:13 AM on November 15, 2021 [8 favorites]
Oh yes GRIT was the word I was trying to remember; I was just trying to think that most common thing I'd heard tOSU point guard Aaron Craft called. He was such a poster boy for it all.
posted by fleacircus at 12:56 PM on November 15, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by fleacircus at 12:56 PM on November 15, 2021 [2 favorites]
dammit I knew I forgot a good code word.
posted by JPD at 1:59 PM on November 15, 2021 [2 favorites]
posted by JPD at 1:59 PM on November 15, 2021 [2 favorites]
It's also a good safe word, unless it's something you might also want more of. You do you!
posted by hippybear at 9:07 PM on November 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 9:07 PM on November 15, 2021 [1 favorite]
"The new University of Austin hopes to counter what its founders say is a culture of censorship at most colleges."
Reporting what fascists say at face value is repeating fascist propaganda.
posted by AlSweigart at 8:44 AM on November 16, 2021 [5 favorites]
Reporting what fascists say at face value is repeating fascist propaganda.
posted by AlSweigart at 8:44 AM on November 16, 2021 [5 favorites]
@HeerJeet: The essence of THE ENLIGHTENMENT is an unwavering commitment to inquiry, always asking questions, rejecting claims of authority and subjecting all knowledge to scrutiny. This I believe. Also I won't be answering any questions about the fake-ass university I tried to start.
posted by tonycpsu at 10:15 AM on November 16, 2021 [7 favorites]
posted by tonycpsu at 10:15 AM on November 16, 2021 [7 favorites]
"The new University of Austin hopes to counter what its founders say is a culture of censorship at most colleges."
Reporting what fascists say at face value is repeating fascist propaganda.
Exactly. This reporter just gave credence to the argument that a "culture of censorship" exists, without considering that they really mean "not being able to sexually harass students," "not being able to demean LGBTQ+ people," and "not being able to push conservative propaganda that has little relation with facts."
This kind of lazy, cowardly false-equivalence journalism will be the US's ruin.
posted by Gelatin at 1:31 PM on November 16, 2021 [3 favorites]
Reporting what fascists say at face value is repeating fascist propaganda.
Exactly. This reporter just gave credence to the argument that a "culture of censorship" exists, without considering that they really mean "not being able to sexually harass students," "not being able to demean LGBTQ+ people," and "not being able to push conservative propaganda that has little relation with facts."
This kind of lazy, cowardly false-equivalence journalism will be the US's ruin.
posted by Gelatin at 1:31 PM on November 16, 2021 [3 favorites]
I’ve Heard You Have Some Questions About the New University My Friends and I Are Starting
posted by TedW at 4:07 AM on November 17, 2021 [4 favorites]
posted by TedW at 4:07 AM on November 17, 2021 [4 favorites]
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/11/17/university-austin-bari-weiss-pinker-culture-politics-522800?utm_medium=email
Steven Pinker and Robert Miller are leaving the University of Austin's board of advisers.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 7:58 AM on November 18, 2021
Steven Pinker and Robert Miller are leaving the University of Austin's board of advisers.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 7:58 AM on November 18, 2021
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posted by hippybear at 6:47 AM on November 13, 2021 [2 favorites]