I didn't know that the University of Melbourne has transitional bloggers. They've got entries on the demotion of Paul Mees as well as the study cycle. There is a first year site as well as a second year + site.
There's also an interesting, if a little bit dated, post about Farrago. The author, who distances himself from the Liberal Party by claiming to be a Labor voter, says that it is "as though a bunch of hippies have been trying to brainwash me with the ‘anti-Glyn Davis’ bible." I have the suspicion that his position is not uncommon and he clearly isn't writing from an official perspective, since he doesn't make the point that the 'Arts cuts' are related to a structural deficit in the Faculty and not any recommendations from the Curriculum Review or Melbourne Model implementation. It is certainly a position that is worth taking into account and he is absolutely correct that the Faculty of Arts is not the only one in the University.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Transitional Blogging
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Employment stats
Educated Nation has a post up about employment opportunities for college [university] graduates in the US. According to the report, graduates have higher salaries, less unemployment and their salaries are rising faster than workers who do not have degrees.
Some of the top ranking jobs in terms of pay are Physicians and Surgeons, Chief Executives, Dentists, Airline Pilots/copilots/flight engineers and air traffic controllers.
All of those occupations earn a median salary of over $100,000 per annum.
Some art and writing occupations pay less than half as much. For example, Editors have a median salary of $43,890 and 84% have bachelor's degrees or higher. For writers and authors, it is $44,350 with 83% graduates.
The continuing privileging of medical, technological and high-level managers over the humanities is probably one of the factors behind the current poor state of the humanities in universities. Universities, after all, reflect the societies in which they are situated. Today at the University of Melbourne, there was a small protest of perhaps 15 students sitting down and talking about the cuts to the Faculty of Arts. The administration building was locked down, with at least one security guard at the doorway, allowing approved people to enter and leave, another three security guards on the stairway and balcony and another 5 security guards on the ground. The protester:security guard ratio is quickly approaching 1:1. This shows that either the protesters do not have popular support or that having a second action within about a week of the first is not a good idea.
But in other news, the latest Honi Soit features stories on the continuing problems with the Academic Appeals changes as well as the results of the elections for Union Board. Big surprise, the Liberal finished last and was therefore the only one not elected. Voter turnout was low, at only 2190 (33 informal).
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Arts, Humanities and Politics
John Wilkins has a discussion on his science blog 'On the decline of the humanities'.
Wilkins begins:Yesterday I attended a meeting at my university which pretty well aimed to wind up the disciplines of my school (history, philosophy, religion and classics) and present a single school with five majors and no departments.
And mentions:Yet at the same time as Melbourne is losing one of its star philosophers - Graham Priest - leaving only eight full-time actual (not honorary) staff where once there were over twenty...
This is bad if you're a student in philosophy obviously, but there are a whole lot of different perspectives on whether or not this is a bad thing in society.
Students who go to university from lower SES groups are likely to be more career focussed, since they are all too familiar with the unpleasantness of poverty. In this sense, increasing access would be accompanied by a slight shift as a larger proportion of university students take up subjects on a pragmatic basis.
However, in a two-cycle model, professional graduate Law Schools (based on US experience) are quite fond of the philosophy graduate for their clear thinking and analytical skills. The low-SES student bias against philosophy would then disadvantage them slightly for admission to Law School. This is a paradoxical effect, considering that one of the arguments for the Melbourne Model was that it would allow for elite private schooling to wash out during the undergraduate years, thereby promoting access and equity.
Further down the threat, Wilkins makes the comment:If funds can't be found elsewhere, then the whole nation is removing the humanities from public universities. One possibly unintended result is that humanities such as ethics, history and so on will tend to be done either by the Catholic university system or by industry. This leaves a gap in secular discourse.
And secular discourse is what feeds progressive political movements on the fronts of race, gender, poverty, globalisation, health and education. Also, it isn't as if the 'breadth' components of the Melbourne Model are holding the humanities afloat since most students are taking breadth subjects that relate to commerce and business. The loss of the humanities from the academy won't be the end of the world, but it certainly doesn't help.
