Word: canonical
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...LOSING THE CANON...
...Already, even under the relatively narrow Core, Harvard graduates share little as far as common academic experiences or familiarity with the same body of knowledge and literature that once distinguished those with a university education. The Greek and Roman classics, and the modern canon of “great books” of literature and philosophy, once occupied much of the intellectual experiences of Harvard students—presumably because the study of such works imparted knowledge of the virtues, and made men’s minds “liberal” in the original sense, not slavish...
...that the trend of academic scholarship today lends itself to progressive thinking, as postmodernist and poststructuralist analytical frameworks inherently lend themselves to a liberal view of the world. Taking nothing for granted, these styles of teaching encourage critical approaches to the establishment (whether conventional scientific wisdom or the literary canon). The underlying philosophy is analogous to loose judicial interpretation, which is a liberal ideal. The critical point here, however, is that an entire wave of productive and important scholarship cannot be suppressed because it tenuously relates to a political outlook with which a subset of the population disagrees. What conservatives...
...they keep the theaters filled - something that a handful of new musicals (and an even smaller handful of straight plays) each season could never do on their own. For another, they let critics show off their taste and theatrical erudition: doling out ritual praise to the classics of the canon, comparing and contrasting the new production with the Definitive 1975 Version That I Saw But You Didn't. And they give stars a chance to demonstrate their acting chops, stretch their talents - and, of course, keep working...
...From the first moment of Casino Royale, Craig was a different sort of Bond. Instead of the 007 of the Fleming canon - a tough but smooth gentleman spy, schooled at Eton and Cambridge, radiating wit and warm sensuality - Craig seems a cyber- or cipher-Bond, with a loyalty chip implanted in a mechanism that's built for murderous ingenuity. ("If you could avoid killing every possible lead," M tells him in this installment, "it would be deeply appreciated.") In lieu of the double-entendre bons mots assigned to Connery, Roger Moore and Pierce Brosnan, Craig communicates in grunts and sullen...