ERIC Number: EJ1081264
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2015
Pages: 6
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1559-0151
EISSN: N/A
"The Endless Appetite": Honors Education and the Spirit of the Humanities
Martino, Andrew
Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council, v16 n1 p25-30 Spr-Sum 2015
In a world that no longer privileges thinking, Andrew Martino writes here that we might need to consider what we are asking of our students--and why--when we ask them to think. This article presents a declaration of how Martino thinks honors education can serve as a resistant force against the increasing encroachment of a wholly utilitarian concept of education. With the costs of higher education on the rise, the call to justify getting a college degree has been indissolubly linked to the ability to obtain a job once the student graduates. He points out that what has been lost along the way is the justification of getting an education for the sake of enriching one's life and one's community, a model of education that is increasingly available only to the privileged. He strongly supports the position that the humanities have taken the brunt of criticism aimed at such a justification, but the jobs-based model that so preoccupies social discourse is a misguided objective that will eventually turn our work force into semi-literate specialists whose main task is to keep the economy moving. Martino argues that if we continue to equate education with use value, then we are headed toward an intellectual and creative abyss; by privileging use value in education, we do grave harm to our students and communities. The article closes by saying that we get the society we deserve, and, if we have a society filled with nothing more than skilled workers and middle-managers, then no one will be able to lead us into the future in meaningful and thought-provoking ways.
Descriptors: Honors Curriculum, Humanities, Role of Education, Educational Objectives, Educational Philosophy, Lifelong Learning, Career Readiness, Models, Social Change, Educational Benefits, Higher Education
National Collegiate Honors Council. 1100 Neihardt Residence Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 540 North 16th Street, Lincoln, NE 68588. Tel: 402-472-9150; Fax: 402-472-9152; e-mail: nchc@unl.edu; Web site: http://nchchonors.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Opinion Papers; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A