daveman
Diamond Member
Student calls for university to make reading course compulsory
They may be the intellectual elite, but Harvard students could graduate without reading a work of fiction during their time at America’s oldest university.
Chastising her fellow 25,000 students at the college dating back to 1636, Claire Miller has claimed that the university should require them to at least pick up a book.
Writing in The Harvard Crimson, the college newspaper, Ms Miller has called for the university to make an English course compulsory for students, who pay more than $56,000 (£44,350) a year for their tuition.
Posing a question to her peers, she asked: “When was the last time you read a book cover to cover?
“For me, a prospective English concentrator, it was last week. But ask my peers in other concentrations and you’re more likely to get a shrug.
“Harvard students complain about readings constantly.
“They lament any assignments requiring they conquer more than 25 pages as tedious or overwhelming (if they aren’t passing the work off to ChatGPT). It’s far too rare that we’re assigned a full book to read and rarer still that we actually finish them.”
However, Ms Miller adds, the blame rests with the university.
“A number of expository writing courses don’t require students to read whole novels. The same is true for many classes that satisfy the arts and humanities requirement.
“Courses like these are still deeply valuable, but they cannot replace the study of literature.”
Part of the problem, she argues, are the inadequate reading requirements at American high schools.
“But it is exactly for this reason that Harvard has an obligation to its students to reinvigorate their respect for literature.”
According to research in the US, the most frequently assigned book for Harvard students is Letter from a Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr.
It frequently appears on the reading list of those studying English literature, political science, history, philosophy, religion, law, social work, theology, sociology, and media and communications.
Ms Miller ruefully admits: “I am well aware of the fact that many people don’t like reading — and that a required course may not change their minds. It’s perfectly acceptable to not enjoy reading, just as I don’t find joy in doing three problem sets a week for a calculus class.
“However, education is not about simply liking what you’re learning; requirements give us a necessary well-rounded education. Through this course, more Harvard students would begin to see the merits of both reading and humanities, and perhaps might be open to reading a book for pleasure in the future.”
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Comment: And people wonder why high school and college education are getting a bad reputation.
They may be the intellectual elite, but Harvard students could graduate without reading a work of fiction during their time at America’s oldest university.
Chastising her fellow 25,000 students at the college dating back to 1636, Claire Miller has claimed that the university should require them to at least pick up a book.
Writing in The Harvard Crimson, the college newspaper, Ms Miller has called for the university to make an English course compulsory for students, who pay more than $56,000 (£44,350) a year for their tuition.
Posing a question to her peers, she asked: “When was the last time you read a book cover to cover?
“For me, a prospective English concentrator, it was last week. But ask my peers in other concentrations and you’re more likely to get a shrug.
“Harvard students complain about readings constantly.
“They lament any assignments requiring they conquer more than 25 pages as tedious or overwhelming (if they aren’t passing the work off to ChatGPT). It’s far too rare that we’re assigned a full book to read and rarer still that we actually finish them.”
‘Blame rests with Harvard’
It was a withering condemnation of students at a university which in recent years has become better known for political activism than rigorous study.However, Ms Miller adds, the blame rests with the university.
“A number of expository writing courses don’t require students to read whole novels. The same is true for many classes that satisfy the arts and humanities requirement.
“Courses like these are still deeply valuable, but they cannot replace the study of literature.”
Part of the problem, she argues, are the inadequate reading requirements at American high schools.
“But it is exactly for this reason that Harvard has an obligation to its students to reinvigorate their respect for literature.”
According to research in the US, the most frequently assigned book for Harvard students is Letter from a Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr.
It frequently appears on the reading list of those studying English literature, political science, history, philosophy, religion, law, social work, theology, sociology, and media and communications.
Ms Miller ruefully admits: “I am well aware of the fact that many people don’t like reading — and that a required course may not change their minds. It’s perfectly acceptable to not enjoy reading, just as I don’t find joy in doing three problem sets a week for a calculus class.
“However, education is not about simply liking what you’re learning; requirements give us a necessary well-rounded education. Through this course, more Harvard students would begin to see the merits of both reading and humanities, and perhaps might be open to reading a book for pleasure in the future.”
_____________________________________
Comment: And people wonder why high school and college education are getting a bad reputation.
