Call in the alumni!
Also, call the trustees to account!!
http://peguy.clairity.org:8080/
b...e_Colleges.html
Its all about paying the bills and unfortunately in today's world, technology is required and philosophy is not. Philosophy courses are also widely available on-line for a fraction of the cost of "geoschools".
Bernard,
Philosophy, of all disciplines, needs a living breathing philosopher to teach the heart as will as the head. Plato wished to discover what constituted the good life, and that is still the quest of true philosophy. One needs to know the heart as well as the mind of a man to know the truth of what he teaches: has he found the good life? If all one wants to be is a logician or linguist, then on-line courses are just fine, but to truly learn a philosophy, one needs the wisdom of the heart.
John,
In today's world, Plato could teach philosophy to the world on-line or via closed circuit TV. Technology requires "hands-on" labs not only for training but also for testing.
Wow Bernard, you sure know a lot about what Plato would be doing today! And here I was afraid that he would be writing spyware...
John, Plato and I are good buddies. Reincarnation rules!!!! LOL
Now it can be told! ;^)
Με όλα τα μέσα!!!
Bernard,
As someone who has taken and taught umpteen distance learning courses, I will offer just one vote to the effect that their is no comparison between a living/breathing in-person teacher and any distance interaction. the latter is, at least in my estimation, woefully lacking. All the administrators and teachers in the world who argue otherwise, whether out of sincerity or economics or laziness (all of which I have encountered) can't convince me otherwise. But I think the tide is inevitable. We are headed to a generation educated by what we would have called correspondence courses or diploma mills only a generation ago.
Philip:
Is the problem that there just aren't enough ELCA Lutherans anymore, and those that are aren't interested in silly things such as philosophy? Or maybe someone's gotten wind of the department's ability to turn out Catholics, and loyal, papal Catholics at that?
On the other hand, perhaps the DESIRE of the administration is to be free of religious entanglements and the penetrating look at reality which philosophy sometimes provides without appearing to jetison such things?
Chris
Joe,
The Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies held my attention more than any liberal arts professor ever did. Ditto for many of the documentaries on the History and Discovery Channels.
Chris Garton-Zavesky,
You raise some good questions, some of them hard to answer. What, in short, is the problem? Is it the loss of a critical mass of Lutherans at the institution? In part, perhaps. That may have played a role in the dilution of Christian faculty & staff in the hiring process over time, which is left entirely to autonomous departments. There has been a similar secularization of the board of trustees, though the president must still be an ELCA Lutheran. I wonder how many trustees could even begin to articulate what they hold in trust in this church-sponsored liberal arts college. Few, if any. Thus, there is a drift in the direction of market-driven curricula revision -- away from the traditional focus on a strong pre-seminary theology program for the training of future ELCA pastors. As for philosophy, the Lutheran tradition has never valued philosophical training the way the Catholic and Dutch Reformed traditions have. It's never been considered the meat on one's plate; merely the parsley.
The converts to Catholicism don't seem to figure much except on a personal level with a few individuals, rather than institutionally. The institution doesn't concern itself with such matters, so far as I've seen. What it wants is warm paying bodies in classroom.
Mr. Meyer,
The thought has occurred to me to try to develop a program of Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics in a music video format for those, like yourself, afflicted with attention deficit disorder (ADD) in liberal arts courses. But it hasn't quite seemed worth the effort. Eminem couldn't quite see himself converting Book V of the Nicomachean Ethics into a rap number.
pb,
Hopefully you condensed into contemporary relevance the ten books of the Nicomachean Ethics series into a form your students could grasp in one hour before moving on to the next 1000 "wordy" books on philosophy.
And shame on you for putting down students suffering from "LA-LA" ADD!!! So very non-Catholic on your part !!
Dr. Meyer, PhD in Poly. Sci, MS in Poly. Sci. and BS in ChE.
Much as I find Dr. Meyer's comments distasteful, I can't argue that the "path of least resistance" approach hasn't infected modern society. It has. It has infected modern education in a fashion not unlike botox has infected modern medicine. To wit: a toxin, a poison, is being put to cosmetic purposes so that it is now impossible to argue the danger of any poison. This is different from the vaccine approach: the purpose of the vaccine is to provoke an immune reaction. The purpose of botox is puerily cosmetic, pandering to a certain vanity.
On the brighter side of the aisle, however, for as many years as I taught French, regardless of the age group, I always used a grammar-centered approach. Administrations thought I was nuts, but the students valued the fact that they could be relatively certain of how to come up with a correct answer. Teenagers yearn for chant and are pleased by it when they can sit long enough to appreciate it. It's different from the nonsense on the radio, which means they will either reject it as alien or figure that there is something worth working to understand. Finally, among the bright and cheerful signs, there is a growing population of young families who are drawn to reverent Novus Ordo Masses and Tridentine Rite Masses. Goofiness is on its way out, even if the oligarchs of eduspeak don't know it yet.
Chris,
It is the "path to employment" that that rules the modern world. Unfortunately, there is little need today for philosophers or French teachers . There is however a tremendous need for statisticians, medical professionals, computer programmers and engineers. (See the recent issues of Business Week and Fortune Magazine about the technology education threat from China and India.)
These disciplines require strong computer/electronic educations. To learn these skills takes a tremendous amount of time to include laboratory "hands-on" training.
So it is either increase the time to get a degree or eliminate courses deemed not to be important by today's employers.
On the other subject:
As a former alter boy who praised Vatican II's abolishment of prayers in Latin, I hope you are wrong about the increase in "dead language" Masses. Could you cite the references about this increase?
Make that "altar boy". 
))
Dr. Meyer:
You illustrate my point perfectly. This morning at our faculty meeting, my headmaster observed that too much time in education generally was being spent on what he called "careerism" . We have become a society whose only pursuit is money. Since money can't grant culture or material for all the leisure time accrued, we have become a society ably represented by Moliere's Bourgeois Gentilhomme. Just think! 300+ years ago a court dramaturge in far away "old Europe" described Modern Affluent America to a T. But you wouldn't know that, and would deprive others of that knowledge because you poo-poo the study of French. You wouldn't understand, and would deprive others of the knowledge of Why we are here, since there isn't a need for philosophy teachers. You would also deprive my fellow citizens of any reason to stand against Nazism, Statism (to borrow Bakhunin's word) and forced euthanasia -- all this because you appear to like modern America's pursuit of the ALMIGHTY DOLLAR.
What a sad condition.
As to the situation with the need for reverence, my new parish (I've been here two years) has grown from 20 to 300 to just shy of 800 families in the course of two priests' tenures here. The Tridentine Rite Mass is well attended, with a growing proportion of families with young children (teens and younger). At our 9:30 Mass (termed the Children's Mass) during the year there are regularly more than 10 altar BOYS. Nary a girl in sight in a cassock or surplice. There are girls aplenty in the parish, but such idiotic innovations as girls serving at the altar have never taken hold here. My almost 9 year old son, when he learns the Tridentine Rite properly, will be the second altar boy under age 15, certainly, and probably younger than that. Others are also interested. A new priest, ordained a scant 4 years, has just received permission to celebrate the Tridentine Rite Mass once a month -- since he has to drive better than an hour each way to celebrate it, and has his own parochial responsibilities. Oh yes, we must lift up our hearts in solemn rejoicing for the good work God is doing.
Chris,
If we only had the time!!! But in a sense we do. If we need to translate something in French, we put the English text into an on-line or software translator. If we need to learn about Philosophy, we check out the thousands of websites on Philosophy and the "on-shelf" or on-line books provided by our libraries. (See netLibrary via your local library site).
Fortunately our Parish never has or even considers having Latin masses and we have altar girls and female Eurcharistic ministers,readers and music directors.
Aramaic,the apparent language of Jesus, would be a better choice than Latin if you really need to get up close and personal with the historic Jesus.
Fortunately our Parish never has or even considers having Latin masses and we have altar girls and female Eurcharistic ministers,readers and music directors.
Dr. Meyer:
Why "Fortunately"? Don't you realize that all these things (except women who are music directors) quash vocations, thus making worse the priest shortage? Compared to many places in our archdiocese, we're a regular vocations factory. This is the first parish where I have worshiped regularly which has had "large" families as the norm not the exception. Every time we have a vocations fair, habited nuns and religious brothers from across the country come, as do order priests, complete with their "distinctive dress". The fair is well attended, especially by teens. Parents bring their children.
As to your comment about the "historical Jesus", I accept that He grew up speaking Aramaic and would have learned Hebrew for his bar Mitzvah and other worship in the Temple. I further accept that when he was quizzed by Pilate, the two men spoke Latin to each other. The Gospels record that the inscription was written in Latin, Hebrew and Greek. None of this, however, keeps me from recognizing that this Jesus founded a Church on Peter and imbued Her with both Holy Writ and Sacred Tradition, which are, by Church teaching, of equal weight.
Actually, to know Christ, I must come to know His Church and spend time before Him in the monstrance.
Chris,
It appears the rules of Vatican II never made it to your parish. How very disturbing!!!
Dr. Meyer:
Which rules of Vatican II?
1) That there shall be a shortage of priests?
2) That parishes must do everything in their power to diminish the numbers of men who will respond to God's call?
3) That Latin shall be abolished as the language of the Church?
4) That contraception shall be normal and even required.
5) That the priesthood shall share all its duties with the laity?
Please don't make the mistake of thinking this is a "conservative" parish. Hardly. Still, if you think we're not liberal enough, perhaps you could clean off your glasses.
Chris,
Vatican II, in my opinion, was partially responsible for a shortage of priests because it failed to open the priesthood to all those qualified.
Also, God listens to all. He/She does not speak only Latin.
The Apostles were Laity all their lives and some even had families. Our "laity" deacons would make excellent priests. As would our Sisters.
Natural Family Planning is still contraception.
Dr. Meyer:
You have a funny take on all kinds of basics of good logic. "Laity" deacons is a nonsensical expression, since the deacon receives holy orders and the laity do not.
If Vatican II was partly responsible for the shortage of priests for "fail[ing] to open the priesthood to all those qualified", then surely my parish is a robustly Vatican II parish. But you claim otherwise. In fact, you even claim that such is a bad thing.
The Apostles weren't "laity" all their lives, since God made the first priests (deacons and bishops) at the Last Supper.
No one, least of all me, claimed that God only spoke Latin. The fact that the Aramaic/Latin/Greek play on words in "Thou art Peter .." works in all three languages demonstrates that God can do with human language precisely what He chooses.
On what basis (aside from personal idiosyncrasy or anti-Christian diatribe) do you claim God to be "He/She"?
Natural Family Planning CAN be used contraceptively, but then armies can be used to defend as well as to attack. That doesn't mean that NFP is by nature contraceptive.
Chris,
I use the term "laity" deacons to differentiate these gentlemen from deacons who are Brothers.
When Vatican III allows all those qualified to become priests, your parish will become even more important in the area of vocations. Hello Father Chris!!!
The last time I checked God has no gender. How about we call Him/Her/It, the Burning Bush since that is about as close a description we have other than the macho editing of various scribes?
Did you know that over one million Conservative Jews no longer believe in the historical nature of the Old Testament? Darn now even the burning bush story is being questioned. See http://www.answersingenesis.org/...2/
0401torah.asp
Are fertility pills approved by the Church?
"I use the term "laity" deacons to differentiate these gentlemen from deacons who are Brothers."
Huh?
"When Vatican III allows all those qualified to become priests, your parish will become even more important in the area of vocations. Hello Father Chris!!!"
I would make a dreadful priest. Why do you assume I would even want to be one?
"The last time I checked God has no gender"
True, but irrelevant. Jesus Christ called to God. He called the God to whom He called, "Father". Unless you're going to insist that this is just one of those unreliable passages .....
"Are fertility pills approved by the Church?"
I think that depends on what you mean by fertility pills.
"Vatican II's abolishment of prayers in Latin,"
If Vatican II abolished prayer in Latin, why do Catholic all over the world still pray in Latin? Why are all the liturgical books written in Latin and then translated into vernacular tongues? How could it be that my parish, which suffers under the scourge of altar girls and excessive use of Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, regularly prays the Tantum Ergo during Benediction? Why do we say the Kyrie in Greek and the Sanctus and Agnus Dei in Latin during Lent?
Which Vatican II document abolished prayers in Latin? Why hasn't the Church noticed that Latin prayers have been abolished? (Ever notice how much Latin is used in Masses at Rome? John Paul II's Requiem Mass even used the Dies Irae sequence! Horrors!)
Sorry, that comment was from me.
How can the same council which declared "The use of the Latin language shall be preserved in the Latin Rite" possibly be tarred with the libel of having abolished Latin prayers?
The only logical conclusion I can draw is that the Ordo of Paul VI isn't prayer. I'm not willing to accept such a conclusion.
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