"Mediaeval History is Bunk"?
Martin Reboul
shmed wrote...
>
> Today's UK papers report the views of the Secretary for Education and
> Skills on the teaching of mediaeval history in British Universities.
> Extracts from 'The Times' report follow.
>
> ======================
>
> May 09, 2003
>
> Medieval history is bunk, says Clarke
>
>
> SUBJECTS such as medieval history are a waste of time and should not
> be funded by the taxpayer, Charles Clarke, the Education Secretary,
> has said.
>
> He told a gathering at University College Worcester, a former
> polytechnic: "I don't mind there being some medievalists around for
> ornamental purposes, but there is no reason for the State to pay for
> them." Only subjects that had a "clear usefulness" should be publicly
> funded, he added. .................
>
> An Education Department spokesman said: "He is basically saying that
> universities exist to enable the British economy and society to deal
> with the challenges posed by the increasingly rapid process of global
> change."
Hmmmm... what a good idea. We could then also do away with classical
studies, philosophy, art, art history (all history in fact), Greek, Latin,
music, English literature, archaeology, astronomy and pure maths. Theology
too, and all the claptrap associated with that. (Any I've forgotten?)
The money and resources saved could then be spent on more appropriate
subjects, that would equip youngsters for the Britain of today, such as
teaching people how to be Traffic Wardens, how to man help desks and deal
with customer complaints... (cont P98)
Dick Wisan
>
>shmed wrote...
>>
>> Today's UK papers report the views of the Secretary for Education and
>> Skills on the teaching of mediaeval history in British Universities.
>> Extracts from 'The Times' report follow.
>>
>> ======================
>>
>> May 09, 2003
>>
>> Medieval history is bunk, says Clarke
>>
>>
>> SUBJECTS such as medieval history are a waste of time and should not
>> be funded by the taxpayer, Charles Clarke, the Education Secretary,
>>
>> An Education Department spokesman said: "He is basically saying that
>> universities exist to enable the British economy and society to deal
>> with the challenges posed by the increasingly rapid process of global
>> change."
>
>Hmmmm... what a good idea. We could then also do away with classical
>studies, philosophy, art, art history (all history in fact), Greek, Latin,
>music, English literature, archaeology, astronomy and pure maths. Theology
>too, and all the claptrap associated with that. (Any I've forgotten?)
Well, now, in the introductory lecture to (his idea of) introductory course
in medieval philosophy, Harry Wolfson (Philo, Spinoza, and everything in
between) used to deal with objections to the study of medieval philosophy.
The last and clinching argument was that according to the philosopher
Henry Ford, "History is the bunk". That way, medieval history is no worse
than any other kind of history.
About your last sentence: if these remarks are characteristic of the
British Government's education ministry, I'm tempted to say that
theology may be the _only_ practical subject for British universities.
--
R. N. (Dick) Wisan - Email: wis...@catskill.net
- Snail: 37 Clinton Street, Oneonta NY 13820, U.S.A.
- Just your opinion, please, ma'am: No fax.
Barbarossa
> > be funded by the taxpayer, Charles Clarke, the Education Secretary,
> > has said.
> >
> > He told a gathering at University College Worcester, a former
> > polytechnic: "I don't mind there being some medievalists around for
> > ornamental purposes, but there is no reason for the State to pay for
> > them." Only subjects that had a "clear usefulness" should be publicly
> > funded, he added. .................
> >
> > An Education Department spokesman said: "He is basically saying that
> > universities exist to enable the British economy and society to deal
> > with the challenges posed by the increasingly rapid process of global
> > change."
"Martin Reboul" <mar...@reboul1471.freeserve.co.uk> wrote:
> Hmmmm... what a good idea. We could then also do away with classical
> studies, philosophy, art, art history (all history in fact), Greek, Latin,
> music, English literature, archaeology, astronomy and pure maths. Theology
> too, and all the claptrap associated with that. (Any I've forgotten?)
>
> The money and resources saved could then be spent on more appropriate
> subjects, that would equip youngsters for the Britain of today, such as
> teaching people how to be Traffic Wardens, how to man help desks and deal
> with customer complaints... (cont P98)
Barbarossa:
Ahh, this has already been seen in Britain before. It's the
"Thomas Gradgrind Philosophy" as found in Charles Dickens'
_Hard Times_. I hope someone confronts him with the appropriate
references.
Because human nature _NEVER_ changes, "We teach ancient
history so that modern lessons may be drawn."
"La plus ça change, ..."
--
_____________B_a_r_b_a_r_o_s_s_a____________ ;^{>
Wayne B. Hewitt Encinitas, CA whe...@ucsd.edu
Martin Reboul
Dick Wisan wrote ...
> Martin Reboul says...
Maybe Henry was right, but his cars are crap. Well, apart from the GT40, a
few Mustangs and the odd Thunderbird perhaps.... but the old git was long
dead and history himself by the time they hit the street. Did he mean to
indicate (by that remark) that we should always 'look to the future' I
wonder? I've never seen it in context?
There's another vastly over-rated so-called 'genius' that comes to mind
here - Edison. A nasty piece of work - jealous, scheming, thieving and
ruthless rather that inventive or innovative - the man who invented the
Electric Chair to prove AC was more dangerous than his beloved DC - what a
w***ker!
> About your last sentence: if these remarks are characteristic of the
> British Government's education ministry, I'm tempted to say that
> theology may be the _only_ practical subject for British universities.
On the 'Gawd Elpus' principal? You may well be right.
I couldn't possibly comment...
Cheers
Martin
Gryphon801
British education? I wonder what his degrees are in - perhaps Sanitation
Control?
Pete Barrett
wrote:
>
>Today's UK papers report the views of the Secretary for Education and
>Skills on the teaching of mediaeval history in British Universities.
>Extracts from 'The Times' report follow.
>
>======================
>
>May 09, 2003
>
>Medieval history is bunk, says Clarke
>
>
>SUBJECTS such as medieval history are a waste of time and should not
>be funded by the taxpayer, Charles Clarke, the Education Secretary,
>has said.
>
>He told a gathering at University College Worcester, a former
>polytechnic: “I don’t mind there being some medievalists around for
>ornamental purposes, but there is no reason for the State to pay for
>them.” Only subjects that had a “clear usefulness” should be publicly
>funded, he added. .................
>
>An Education Department spokesman said: “He is basically saying that
>universities exist to enable the British economy and society to deal
>with the challenges posed by the increasingly rapid process of global
>change.”
>=====================
>
>
>
>
<shrug> Is this new? The move away from academic subjects and towards
vocational subjects has been going on in British (or at least English)
schools and universities for 20 years. The very name of the department
shows how far we've gone - once it was 'Education', then 'Education
and Science', then I think it was 'Education and Employment' for a
while, and now 'Education and Skills'. This is the first time I can
recall the Secretary for Education actually making the policy
explicit, but it's been happening for years.
Pete Barrett
Frank Martin
<sh...@myob.btinternet.co.uk> wrote in message
news:1d4nbvobva2hfk8tn...@4ax.com...
Gordon Johnson
** No, he is not in charge of British education - only English
education. Scotland and Wales have seperate systems.
Incidentally, Most military experts study medieval and classical
history to learn about basic warfare tactics. Now there is a truly
practical application!
Gordon.
Kathy McIntosh
boul1471.freeserve.co.uk> writes
>
>shmed wrote...
>>
>> Today's UK papers report the views of the Secretary for Education and
>> Skills on the teaching of mediaeval history in British Universities.
>> Extracts from 'The Times' report follow.
>>
>> ======================
>>
>> May 09, 2003
>>
>> Medieval history is bunk, says Clarke
>>
>>
>> SUBJECTS such as medieval history are a waste of time and should not
>> be funded by the taxpayer, Charles Clarke, the Education Secretary,
>> has said.
>>
>> He told a gathering at University College Worcester, a former
>> polytechnic: "I don't mind there being some medievalists around for
>> ornamental purposes, but there is no reason for the State to pay for
>> them." Only subjects that had a "clear usefulness" should be publicly
>> funded, he added. .................
>>
>> An Education Department spokesman said: "He is basically saying that
>> universities exist to enable the British economy and society to deal
>> with the challenges posed by the increasingly rapid process of global
>> change."
>
>Hmmmm... what a good idea. We could then also do away with classical
>studies, philosophy, art, art history (all history in fact), Greek, Latin,
>music, English literature, archaeology, astronomy and pure maths. Theology
>too, and all the claptrap associated with that. (Any I've forgotten?)
Sociology.
>
>The money and resources saved could then be spent on more appropriate
>subjects, that would equip youngsters for the Britain of today, such as
>teaching people how to be Traffic Wardens, how to man help desks and deal
>with customer complaints... (cont P98)
Martin, as a teacher, can I assure you that no matter how good they look
on paper, as soon as someone is appointed Secretary for Education, they
start talking crap.
--
Kathy
Cats would rule the world if only they could be bothered
Joe
Today's UK papers report the views of the Secretary for Education and
Skills on the teaching of mediaeval history in British Universities.
Extracts from 'The Times' report follow.
======================
May 09, 2003
Medieval history is bunk, says Clarke
SUBJECTS such as medieval history are a waste of time and should not
be funded by the taxpayer, Charles Clarke, the Education Secretary,
has said.
He told a gathering at University College Worcester, a former
polytechnic: "I don't mind there being some medievalists around for
ornamental purposes, but there is no reason for the State to pay for
them." Only subjects that had a "clear usefulness" should be publicly
funded, he added. .................
An Education Department spokesman said: "He is basically saying that
universities exist to enable the British economy and society to deal
with the challenges posed by the increasingly rapid process of global
change."
=====================
You're saying this came from someone that's not a Bush appointee?
--
JR
Gryphon801
dangerous influence.
Drew Nicholson
news:b9jcap$nov$1...@slb3.atl.mindspring.net...
> =====================
> You're saying this came from someone that's not a Bush appointee?
> --
> JR
>
Oh, I dunno...
http://www.whitehouse.org/initiatives/posters/tony_bum_snort.asp
centno...@hotmail.com
>I am delighted to hear that Scotland and Wales are free of this imbecile's
>dangerous influence.
As someone teaching medieval history in a Scottish medieval
university, so am I!
EDEB.
centno...@hotmail.com
From the Grauniad's view of CC - a quote by the great man himself:
"You have to be very, very careful - if you're serious about power -
about how you talk about things."
EDEB
erilar
And of course one could save incredible amounts of money by getting rid
of all the fancy perks of useless bureaucrats, to say nothing of getting
rid of the latter as well.
--
Mary Loomer Oliver(aka erilar)
Erilar's Cave Annex:
http://www.airstreamcomm.net/~erilarlo