Word: mansfield
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Finally, to Mansfield's assertion that Harvard is too P.C.: We disagree. Students and Faculty are for the most part liberal, and many are genuinely interested in areas such as Afro-American Studies. But we do not see a crazed community in which people are afraid to share their views. We do not see an administration bowing to liberal pressure at the expense of conservative ideas...
...that there is a political litmus test at work in the selection of speakers. Many factors, not least of which is the availability of the speaker, are taken into account, and we doubt Thatcher has not been pursued at some time by the University. Moreover, the three world leaders Mansfield cited as "mediocre" are far from it. Robinson, for one, is a crusader for human rights worldwide who previously revolutionized the office of the Irish presidency...
Regarding the political correctness of the Expos program, Mansfield's charge may hold a bit more water. It is true that many of the course offerings do not have the strongest reading lists, and a surprising number do focus on questions of culture and identity. Still, the program has other, bigger flaws--namely, the less-than-stellar instruction...
...choosing to focus on Expos and Commencement, two institutions on either end of the undergraduate experience, Mansfield seems to have unwisely overlooked the most fertile ground for a conservative critique of Harvard: the academic work that consumes the bulk of our time here. A discussion about the pernicious effects of multiculturalism might better focus on the prevalence of leftleaning scholars in many departments or on the fact that academic rigor in many social science classes seems sadly lacking...
...short, Mansfield is not Dinesh D'Souza, and this is not 1992. Discussions of multiculturalism or perceived liberal bias at Harvard are useful. But critics should choose their topics more carefully, and refrain from misapplying outdated and contentious labels...