At 8:35 AM -0700 8/20/02, Devine, James wrote:
It's my impression that the metaphor "the ivory tower" has always referred to only the elite professors at elite research-oriented universities, who were most cut off from "reality."
When leftists hear the words "colleges" and
"universities," they mainly think of institutions like
Oxford, Cambridge, Yale, Harvard, and the like, the institutions that
mainly existed to educate the next generation's political elite.
The majority of post-secondary schools were not built for that purpose
to begin with.
At 8:35 AM -0700 8/20/02, Devine, James wrote:
It's true that that kind of ivory tower is being eroded, in that more & more of the profs. are working for business. Perhaps being cut off from "reality" can be a good thing...
I don't think that Ivies were ever cut off from reality
economically. Cf. <http://www.yaleslavery.org/>.
Early American colleges were, however, basically divinity schools
first and liberal arts colleges second. "At the end of the
eighteenth century, just eighteen colleges existed in the United
States, with an average enrollment of fewer than seventy" (@
<http://www.vanderbilt.edu/vupress/geiger.html>)!
--
Yoshie
* Calendar of Events in Columbus: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html>
* Anti-War Activist Resources: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html>
* Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/>
* Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/>
Yoshie
* Calendar of Events in Columbus: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html>
* Anti-War Activist Resources: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html>
* Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/>
* Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/>
