I fear for our country if many university students share Mr. O’Sullivan’s views (“Fairfield U: An apple with a rotten ‘core’”, Mirror 9/19/12, p. 8). Particularly frightening is his statement that “As an English major, I can safely say that I will never use the skills I’ve attempted to learn in my math classes, natural science classes, and especially my religion classes”, followed by a similar disregard for university-level courses in history and statistics.
Can an English major truly understand Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets without knowing the social environment in which they were written, what the religious beliefs of Shakespeare’s audiences were, and what his country was going through politically? Can that English major understand Emily Dickinson’s poetry without knowing the social and political position of women in the 19th century United States?
Lacking a solid grasp of the scientific method, do people see through politicians’ simplistic arguments over energy use, disease control, and global warming? Lacking an understanding of statistical analysis, can they tell when politicians are lying to them about budget deficits, levels of poverty, recent trends in gun crime, and the effects of tax cuts? Lacking a basic grasp of the religious beliefs to which millions of their fellow citizens adhere, are they effective in discussing with those fellow citizens issues of euthanasia, abortion, and the separation of church and state?
Mr. O’Sullivan would apparently prefer a university in which students are not “forced to learn what we don’t want.” If, however, we pursue nothing beyond what we find interesting at age 18, we will remain ignorant of much that is essential for any free citizen to know. As Thomas Jefferson wrote in 1816: “If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” (Letter to Charles Yancey, January 6).
William Abbott
Associate Professor
Department of History
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