Still Running Off at the Keyboard

When the Select Committee on Academic Freedom was created by the Pennsylvania Legislature in 2005, the legislators observed,“Academic freedom is likely to thrive in an environment of intellectual diversity….” Temple University, which is one of the three major public institutions of higher learning in the state, does not include a declaration like this among its academic policies and its academic programs regularly violate the principle.

For instance, Temple provides a “writing-intensive two course sequence” called “Intellectual Heritage” which is required of all Temple students and which includes a focus on Enlightenment, Romantic and Revolutionary Thinkers. The Revolutionary Thinkers include Darwin, Marx and Freud, but not Adam Smith whose revolutionary ideas underpin the society in which Temple students live. Professors involved in the course post guides for students on a department webpage called “Faculty Perspectives on Marx.”1 Most of the faculty guides provided, however, are explications of Marx’s writings without critical comment. In all, there are about 30 sample exam and study questions provided which relate to Marx. Every one, without exception, prompts students to explain what Marx said in the way you would expect students to explain the theories of Isaac Newton, whose hypotheses were confirmed by real world experiments. Since all Marxist experiments have failed one might expect some mention of this fact. But one would be disappointed if one did.

Here is a sample guideline: “Marx presents an astute understanding and critique of Capitalism. Is it convincing?” The professorial question does not say, “Marx analyzed capitalism. Is his analysis convincing?” Instead, the student is told what to think: Marx wrote a wise critique of capitalism. And then asked: Are you convinced? What if you’re not convinced, and suppose you encountered the question on an exam. Are you going to contradict your professor and risk a possible repercussion to your grade? This is not education; it is indoctrination.

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