<p>I don’t think a LAC is a mistake for a conservative kid. But an LAC would be a mistake for a student who didn’t think he wanted or needed the humanities, and didn’t think he needed to learn how to think. Why would a student go to a liberal arts college if he wasn’t at all interested in liberal arts? It’d be like going to culinary school but not wanting to learn to cook.</p>
<p>Talk about being narrow minded. So, only LAC schools are where student go who “Want to think”? I know some doctors, engineers, and scientists that would argue that LAC schools are where you go when you don’t know what you want to do when you grow up; so you get a degree in theater, art, history, etc…</p>
<p>I know some doctors, engineers, and scientists that would argue that LAC schools are where you go when you don’t know what you want to do when you grow up; so you get a degree in theater, art, history, etc…</p>
<p>and that proves what? That while those in the sciences * know* that their field demand a great deal of creativity, they have contempt for those who want to pursue paths that fill the world with beauty and life?</p>
<p>Incidentally- I know a great many scientists, including those who are on the Nobel committee and those who are double profs- in the school of engineering and in the school of medicine, at our states flagship U, and their kids went to undergrad at LACs
;)</p>
<p>jeez…he was just responding to the basic assumption here that all kids need to “learn to think” from LACs. NOT EVERYONE SHARES LIBERALVIEWS</p>
<p>I consider myself to be a conservative but I am going to side with Fang on this one: he did not say that an LAC is the ONLY place to learn to think, anymore than a cullinary institute is the ONLY place to learn to cook. But, the goal of a liberal arts education is to teach a student to think. afadad, do you agree with the drs., engineers, etc. that LAC are where you go when you don’t know what you want to do when you grow up; that is narrow minded!</p>
<p>I’m a HS senior from Rhode Island and I am very conservative so I feel I can really help you answer this! I myself did NOT apply to any of the LAC colleges in New England. I applied to all of the big southern universities! Hahah. Some of the teachers up here are absolutely ridiculous. I don’t mind teachers expressing their liberal opinions, but when they actually TEACH as a liberal and state their opinions as facts that really chaps my a**! I’m hoping some of that liberal-biased will fade if I’m in the big southern U’s but who knows! As for the schools, I’m sure they are fun and many of them are prestigious so it may be worth it to put up with the hippies!</p>
<p>Emerald; read the posts. You have no place to even question my post. None at all. It is in direct response to fang’s comment that a student wouldn’t want to go to a LAC UNLESS they wanted to learn to think. Specifically he said: </p>
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</p>
<p>So, I expect you to jump on his butt. I have to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you DIDN’T READ Fang’s post. Now that I’ve brought to your attention, I’ll let you give him the appropriate response.</p>
<p>lotsofquests; fang’s post said EXACTLY THAT. That a LAC college is where one goes if they want to learn “To think”. Thus the implication that non-LAC are where you learn other things but NOT to learn how to think. Any justifying of his post is pure Bull. S. And it doesn’t mean a thing whether I agree or not with what doctors, scientists, or engineers thing. I was simply making a comment that some other people think just as narrow minded as Fang did in his post. Now; if Fang Mis-spoke and it didn’t come out the way he intended, then his is more then welcomed to restate his position. But don’t even try to rationalize, justify, or defend his comment.</p>
<p>geeps, </p>
<p>What do you think the connection is between LACs and “LIBERALVIEWS”? </p>
<p>Do you think that state schools like Berkeley and Kent State are conservative? </p>
<p>And do you really think that Ramapo Liberal Arts College, Ripon Liberal Arts College, Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts (which is home to Georgia Tech’s ROTC units), Hofstra College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Thomas More College of Liberal Arts, and others have some liberal political leaning? On what do you base your assumptions about LACs and “LIBERALVIEWS”? You know, if you look up “liberal arts” in the dictionary it has a separate definition from “liberal”.</p>
<p>How old are you? Do you know the history of those state schools I mentioned?</p>
<p>(I thought your OP was a very wry joke at first or that another poster was right about you being a ■■■■■, but I decided to take you seriously. Yet you still seem more interested in simply bashing liberals than in discussing LACs that might interest conservatives. Why is that?)</p>
<p>afadad, you may not have realized that fang was responding to something that geeps had said about colleges in a different thread, which I quoted in an earlier post. The bit about learning to think was from a geeps comment that it need not be the purpose of attending college, but you’ll find it as part of the definition of “liberal arts”.</p>
<p>Afadad, as Mrs. Weasley (love the name) pointed out, my comment about learning to think was a response to something geeps said in a different thread.</p>
<p>Mrs. Weasley quoted geeps as saying “well… some feel you go to college to learn a skill…Not everyone wants or needs the humanities”, and "they shouldn’t have to [go to college to learn how to think]…that is not what I believe college is about. "</p>
<p>A student who wants to go to college to learn to think has a large array of good choices. He might choose a liberal arts college, since LACs emphasize developing students’ writing, reasoning and research skills. He might choose a big university, knowing that he’d have a large array of fine classes to explore and enlarge his areas of interest, and many professors, one or two of whom might become a mentor to him. If he were technically-minded, he might go to a technical institute. He might choose a medium-sized university, again with a good choice of classes and professors. Happily, many fine choices would confront him.</p>
<p>A student who had other goals, who did not think college was a place to learn to think but instead a place to learn skills, and who thought humanities were not for him, would also have many fine choices of colleges, but in my opinion, LACs would not be among those good choices. LACs say their mission is to teach students to think. Many of them have breadth requirements that include humanities courses. Students who don’t like that mission and those requirements should look elsewhere. </p>
<p>A drama conservatory is not the only place to learn theater; the aspiring actor might instead go to a university to study drama, or just go out and audition, or pursue his craft some other way. But a student NOT interested in drama certainly shouldn’t go to a drama conservatory! Similarly, a LAC is not the only place to learn reasoning skills and study humanities, but a student not interested in studying humanities and learning reasoning skills certainly shouldn’t go to a LAC!</p>
<p>It is in direct response to fang’s comment that a student wouldn’t want to go to a LAC UNLESS they wanted to learn to think</p>
<p>If you are responding to a particular point, then make that obvious by quoting the point, I don’t respond to multiple posts or posters without making that clear and I expect the same courtesy from others.</p>
<p>fang’s post said EXACTLY THAT. That a LAC college is where one goes if they want to learn “To think”. Thus the implication that non-LAC are where you learn other things but NOT to learn how to think.</p>
<p>This is the logical fallacy known as “affirming the consequent.”</p>
<p>I did not say that an LAC is where one goes if one wants to learn to think. I said that an LAC is where one does NOT go if one does NOT want to learn to think.</p>
<p>what is the definition of is though…lol</p>
<p>Well, underscoring this whole debate is, of course, the grand hypocracy of the vast majority of ALL colleges that are very much dominated by liberal ideology. These same institutions love to espouse “diversity” but of course are enormously repressive to any professor pursuing tenure or student trying to graduate who holds conservative views.</p>
<p>It is a sad state of affairs for our country.</p>
<p>I have a child at a rather famous college who would actually enjoy joining a conservative political group but is afraid to. That’s right . Afraid to for the social beating he would take and also for fear it would show up some day on his resume as he is applying for grad school or a job. </p>
<p>This is where we are at now.</p>
<p>Here’s a shot at a a return to the OP’s question; my guess is at most Northeast LACs:</p>
<p>-your son will have many liberal profs. and only a few conservative ones
-With the exception, perhaps, of a few profs in the hard sciences, most will see their disciplines as, in some measure, political.
-A few profs, both liberal and conservative, will push their own agendas and want students to regurgitate their views. They can mostly be avoided with a little scouting.
-More will encourage critical thinking and encourage students to refine and defend their own views based on ever increasing knowledge of the subject matter. Some students find this stimulating; others intimidating.
-Still others will believe that everyone’s experience of the world is so different and conditioned so much by individual cultural background, that we can barely communicate with one another (this thread would provide them w/ an object lesson), let alone agree about big questions of meaning or truth. This “pessimistic” strain of postmodernism will make some conservative students crazy and change the world view of others.
-Most classes will be aimed as much at changing the way a student thinks as with acquainting them with a body of knowledge. They will emphasize that there are few “facts” that do not involve some sort of interpretation. </p>
<p>I’m not sure any of us can know how your son would react to this.</p>
<p>“It is a sad state of affairs for our country.”</p>
<p>You got that right…and it will get worse…when will these idiots realize that you can’t buy prosperity…spend.spend…spend…tax some more and more spend…spend…spend</p>
<p>marathon man…good honest post…much more so than liberals trying to pretend or deny that any liberal bias takes place.</p>
<p>I skipped through most of these posts, but your son might get the book, Choosing the Right College-it is actually meant for those with conservative leanings. </p>
<p>What I think really happens at college is that many students are politically pretty apathetic and don’t even follow world and national events as much as they did in high school-the student who really takes the time to form opinions no matter what they are-will thrive in discussions.</p>
<p>Marathonman, great post.</p>
<p>The same thing is true of most LACs in other parts of the country, I believe.</p>
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<p>Oh, puhleeze. That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. You should call your kid and tell him or her to “grow a pair” and join whatever political club he or she wants to. That’s just nonsense.</p>
<p>I have a child at a rather famous college who would actually enjoy joining a conservative political group but is afraid to. That’s right . Afraid to for the social beating he would take and also for fear it would show up some day on his resume as he is applying for grad school or a job.</p>
<p>Those hiding behind fear or apathy look the same.
IF everyone was afraid to walk their talk what sort of a country would we have?</p>