Joe:
Agreed. The "University" is, as the name implies, "universal" and,
from the beginning, it had three "graduate" divisions: Medicine, Law
and Theology (reflecting the structures of humanity, society and the
cosmos.) But that couldn't happen until the students were thoroughly
familiar with the *seven* "liberal arts": the Trivium (Grammar,
Rhetoric and Dialectics -- the history of which was Marshall McLuhan's
1943 Cambridge PhD) and the Quadrivium (Music, Arithmetic, Geometry
and Astronomy) -- which later became our "three R's" from "grammar
school."
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.amazon.com_Classical-2DTrivium-2DPlace-2DThomas-2DLearning_dp_1584230673&d=DwIDaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=hLOntVBw_xtAKYmroXotTC3UT6GK1LNOTmTU7v7nq1I&s=GIbKnYTh_o3u50r_n-eHPNLrq7xvwXg-YhhVxhYO7vo&e=
It's interesting when you put "Trivium" into an Amazon search. In
addition to McLuhan's thesis -- which was first supposed to be
published in the 1970s, then circulated as "samazidat" in the 1990s
but wasn't printed until 2006 -- there is very little of substance.
There is a 1930s treatment by Sister Miriam Joseph which completely
misunderstands grammar and some "home-schooling" manuals. And there
is the funky little British publisher called "Wooden Books" with
useful volumes on both the Trivium and Quadrivium (generated because
the publisher, who studied architecture, became interested in "magic
ratios.") But that's it . . . !!
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.amazon.com_Trivium-2DClassical-2DLiberal-2DGrammar-2DRhetoric_dp_1632864967&d=DwIDaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=hLOntVBw_xtAKYmroXotTC3UT6GK1LNOTmTU7v7nq1I&s=OVwETcx6n7AhMMng9CRmcUIPq2jC-PXt3t3Ki24sdNI&e=
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.amazon.com_Quadrivium-2DClassical-2DLiberal-2DGeometry-2DCosmology_dp_0802778135&d=DwIDaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=hLOntVBw_xtAKYmroXotTC3UT6GK1LNOTmTU7v7nq1I&s=kQdGqiY3KpPswBlAIPiaX95UEQPNZugVQBUW-PMwvcs&e=
Modern-day "humanities" are a joke. They are a derivative of
19th-century German scholarship -- which gave us our PhD and the
"research university" (aka the "Leipzig Connection") -- and rely on
the fumes from 20th-century German refugees such as Werner Jaeger and
Leo Strauss. They should be scrapped.
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.amazon.com_Leipzig-2DConnection-2DBasics-2DEducation_dp_0897390016&d=DwIDaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=hLOntVBw_xtAKYmroXotTC3UT6GK1LNOTmTU7v7nq1I&s=D-GxMypY1x9vrAlwKW2gMXlxOUrHtu485FdOlWtHeds&e=
Modern-day "social science" is even worse. It is a product of
attempts to invent "social engineering" to retool "human nature" --
with *psychology*, as informed by 20th-century warfare at its core --
and they should also be scrapped. Deep-sixed.
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.amazon.com_shaping-2Dpsychiatry-2DWilliam-2Dmemorial-2Dlectures_dp_B0007DV91Y&d=DwIDaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=hLOntVBw_xtAKYmroXotTC3UT6GK1LNOTmTU7v7nq1I&s=o6Gr2s2BqED426afpBK7jddMApynrrnBGGb_3Jifmy0&e=
What does that leave us with? Aristotle (to begin with.) Just like
in medieval Paris. And a good place to start would be his Book VIII
"On Education . . . " from his "Politics." It is the "City" (i.e. our
psycho-technological environment) which educates us and, as long as
the *city* is disordered -- as it surely is today (i.e. under
TELEVISION conditions) -- then our education will be psychologically
deranged.
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.amazon.com_Politics-2DFocus-2DPhilosophical-2DLibrary-2DAristotle_dp_1585103764&d=DwIDaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=hLOntVBw_xtAKYmroXotTC3UT6GK1LNOTmTU7v7nq1I&s=WJctH8nI6T-prSxa0nqy7NIOeCiPmEsn_Tzs3DUkOto&e=
McLuhan's final book was called "City as Classroom: Understanding
Language and Media" (1977) and, alas, few have ever read it. Truth be
told, Marshall was a "humanities" professor and, alas, he knew far too
little about the "city" to really be of much help.
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.amazon.com_City-2Dclassroom-2DUnderstanding-2Dlanguage-2Dmedia_dp_0772550204&d=DwIDaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=hLOntVBw_xtAKYmroXotTC3UT6GK1LNOTmTU7v7nq1I&s=U2RwQwPOeAvF8V9mR8aW0nrkIxcWnck7XPtaJr8rmds&e=
The "humanities" vs. *technology* is an old story. It was the topic
of C.P. Snow's 1959 "Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution" --
which was written on behalf of Cambridge (against Oxford) in the
battle of the "universities" for control of the British Empire. It
was the subject of Rabbi Louis Finkelstein's "Committee on Science,
Philosophy and Religion" in the 1940s (the only treatment of which is
by a friend of the Center, Fred Beuttler, now Dean of Great Books at
the University of Chicago, called "Organizing an American Conscience,"
in his 1995 unpublished PhD.) "Humanities" doesn't have a chance.
https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.amazon.com_Two-2DCultures-2DScientific-2DRevolution_dp_1614275475&d=DwIDaQ&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=hLOntVBw_xtAKYmroXotTC3UT6GK1LNOTmTU7v7nq1I&s=AVBJ4Jz-0cy9qLqu7MxC8np62r8bqTl8kfxXZLd6Q78&e=
But under DIGITAL conditions, which is how we've been living for the
past 20+ years, we get to start over again. We're living in a new
paradigm. So, by all means, let's make a *new* University (just like
the really old ones) . . . <g>
Mark
P.S. The main-topic of the new university will be "forms." Formal
causality will be its overall focus -- not kinetic, teleological or
material cause. Otherwise, we'll all be speaking Chinese (as many
children of the elites are already being taught in their "grammar
schools.")
Quoting Joseph Michalski <[log in to unmask]>:
> Hi ToKers (yes, that's an interesting acronym). For the umpteenth
> time we are revisiting the perpetual "crisis in the humanities,
> including, by my count, at least the 3rd article I've retrieved
> entitled "Oh, the humanities". As most already now, that meme stems
> from Herbert Morrison's first-hand account of the Hindenburg
> disaster. (Fun fact: my father was a blimp pilot in WW II.) Please
> see the following article:
>
>
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.nytimes.com_2018_08_08_opinion_oh-2Dthe-2Dhumanities.html-3Fem-5Fpos-3Dsmall-26emc-3Dedit-5Fty-5F20180808-26nl-3Dopinion-2Dtoday-26nl-5Fart-3D1-26nlid-3D70909497emc-253Dedit-5Fty-5F20180808-26ref-3Dheadline-26te-3D1&d=DwIF-w&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=bYVwH65vtaqh5bBW1u43taU5hl3Gg0ctKp5QcBMh6l0&s=5lxgHAiGwPNAEJf77mY5ibf0qZrO4XP8PiRJQshTQ3g&e=
>
> [https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__static01.nyt.com_images_2018_08_08_opinion_08douthat_08douthat-2DfacebookJumbo.jpg&d=DwIF-w&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=bYVwH65vtaqh5bBW1u43taU5hl3Gg0ctKp5QcBMh6l0&s=Li4FnT_wldn4MpVtsQTlA1b7jYIXGKnj39YRfhbv3bM&e=]<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.nytimes.com_2018_08_08_opinion_oh-2Dthe-2Dhumanities.html-3Fem-5Fpos-3Dsmall-26emc-3Dedit-5Fty-5F20180808-26nl-3Dopinion-2Dtoday-26nl-5Fart-3D1-26nlid-3D70909497emc-253Dedit-5Fty-5F20180808-26ref-3Dheadline-26te-3D1&d=DwIF-w&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=bYVwH65vtaqh5bBW1u43taU5hl3Gg0ctKp5QcBMh6l0&s=5lxgHAiGwPNAEJf77mY5ibf0qZrO4XP8PiRJQshTQ3g&e=>
>
> Opinion | Oh, the
> Humanities!<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.nytimes.com_2018_08_08_opinion_oh-2Dthe-2Dhumanities.html-3Fem-5Fpos-3Dsmall-26emc-3Dedit-5Fty-5F20180808-26nl-3Dopinion-2Dtoday-26nl-5Fart-3D1-26nlid-3D70909497emc-253Dedit-5Fty-5F20180808-26ref-3Dheadline-26te-3D1&d=DwIF-w&c=eLbWYnpnzycBCgmb7vCI4uqNEB9RSjOdn_5nBEmmeq0&r=HPo1IXYDhKClogP-UOpybo6Cfxxz-jIYBgjO2gOz4-A&m=bYVwH65vtaqh5bBW1u43taU5hl3Gg0ctKp5QcBMh6l0&s=5lxgHAiGwPNAEJf77mY5ibf0qZrO4XP8PiRJQshTQ3g&e=>
> www.nytimes.com
> New data on college majors confirms an old trend. Technocracy is
> crushing the life out of humanism.
>
> I share this because I have to propose some innovative changes at
> our university, since, as has been happening for decades, we are in
> "crisis" mode again. Like everywhere else, we've been witnessing the
> inexorable decline of the relative numbers of students in the
> humanities and a lesser decline in the social sciences. The data are
> absolutely compelling, as far as what has happened with programs and
> majors over the course of the last several decades. And our faculty
> our still quite defensive and territorial. But in light of the many
> folks and varied forms of expertise on this list, I'm wondering if
> this might not be a possible source of one of our main collective
> projects? Quite simply, if we were to put our heads together and
> re-invent the university for the 21st century, what would we come up
> with?
>
>
> One idea that stems from Gregg's and others' work on this list is
> the idea of reintegration and consilience. That is, as I've reviewed
> the history of the university (and thanks Mark to a couple of great
> references I've followed up on from your posts several weeks ago),
> it's remarkable how the classical beginnings were much more
> integrated substantively. No, there were no buildings, but there
> weren't all the artificial divisions that have evolved over the
> centuries either. And now, as we're seeing in our work through the
> ToK and UTUA, among other metaphysical offerings, it really just
> makes a lot more sense if we connect all the dots. I'd argue that
> that's the type of curriculum, with a solid dose of realism in terms
> of understanding technology, that will help us create knowledge that
> nurtures and 'enlightens' our souls, while at the same time
> developing commensurate practical tools that require creativity,
> analytic reasoning, and thoughtful engagement with culture and
> applications of technology - whether in business or the arts or
> governing or anything else. I'm developing a detailed paper on the
> reinvention of the university, both for my own immediate university
> and in terms of a broader academic focus, combining the data with
> the arguments surrounding possible new directions. I welcome any and
> all collaboration, including if there's something we'd like to
> publish jointly on the more formal academic side.
>
>
> If you'd like to work with me directly on this too, I can be reached
> apart from the list at: [log in to unmask]
>
>
> All best regards in the meantime, -Joe
>
>
>
> Dr. Joseph H. Michalski
>
> Acting Academic Dean/Associate Academic Dean
>
> King’s University College at Western University
>
> 266 Epworth Avenue
>
> London, Ontario, Canada N6A 2M3
>
> Tel: (519) 433-3491
>
> Fax: (519) 963-1263
>
> Email: [log in to unmask]
>
> ______________________
> eiπ + 1 = 0
>
>
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