Week 6: Reading Response 1

HOROWITZ/In Defense of Intellectual Diversity

1. What argument(s) is David Horowitz making? How valid do you find them? Why?

This author was very interesting. At first I thought I would get bogged down in intellectual reading, but was suprisingly pleased with the information and the courage it presented. The argument Horowitz makes is the partisanship in education by some university professionals. Horowitz points are well taken and I do find them valid. However, how does one educate in a diverse system such as ours? Is it feasible to always compare all vantage points? Do the vantage points meet each individual by the way of diversity? The author sends a message to embrace both sides of a story when educating students, and to allow students the right to express without partisanship.

The Academic Bill of Rights helps shed light on this matter, but does it work? Educators who ask you to compare and make your own decision in controversial matters know this is important to do. The educational system though still has a long way to go in the appropriateness of diversity in the classroom. Who, what, where, when, and how important the subject qualifies to these issues discussed will continue to harbor partisanship in the eyes of professionals and students alike since we are diversified in many ways. It's a diverse country, stupid. Those professionals who understand the importance of academic freedom and encourage it - my hats off to you, afterall, "It's the academic culture, stupid." (I couldn't resist using that phrase.)