Traditionally, in Germany, it’s Herr Professor Doctor in addressing a scholar. And in China scholars have been given the highest prestige for thousands of years. However, in top universities in America, teachers scorn the doctor or professor title in order to get closer to their students, who design the curriculum, rank teaching ability and somehow borrow enough to pay the bills. This is unfortunate unless these teachers really have nothing profound to say based on learning, experience and research. If teachers are just older students, what the hey. But if they really have crucial knowledge to pass on, as carriers of the knowledge torch of the ages, they should be held in the highest esteem and treated as such. This means that they should have complete control of the curriculum. Furthermore, an honored title is a way to recognize a scholar's unique value to the world. So much more honor to those scholars who have the courage to defend truth in these chaotic, dangerous times.
Scholars and college go together. But higher education in America is really not higher or in many cases even education in most places. We need fewer college students, not more. Most jobs do not require a college diploma. Of those that should go to college, the curriculum should be much more rigorous. It can't be rigorous if the students design it and the professors and administrators cave to every whim of students. It has been estimated that a good high school education of the 1920s (languages including Greek and Latin, calculus, science, civics, real history, Shakespeare and so forth) was more rigorous than the vast majority of college curriculum today, at least outside the hard sciences. Most students are not in hard sciences. Few colleges even offer one Shakespeare course, much less require it. A more rigorous approach suggests a need to emphasize the quality of scholars. That gets me back to honored titles.
Is Jill Biden a scholar because she has a doctorate? I like Tucker Carlson, but his critique of Jill Biden's writing is an exercise in silliness. Shooting fish in a teacup. So she can't write. Her professors should have helped her smooth things out and improve content in the process.
In the end it is the professors who approve the dissertation topic and have final say on whether the work is up to snuff. This is an indictment of University of Delaware professors more than Jill. Some of these education dissertations actually do have content, especially statistics based dissertations; though topics are sometimes rather odd. That is the general case throughout the soft disciplines. The identity politics “disciplines” are totally out of control; queer theory, women’s studies, various minority styled studies and what can only be described as socialist/Marxist studies to name a few. Identity politics studies are alive and well on campuses throughout Mississippi.
Dr. of Education is often (not always) an honorific designed for promotion and to raise salary. Simple as that. Everybody knows this, including Tucker. As Milton Friedman said – If someone offers $100 with no apparent strings attached, don’t be surprised if the offer is accepted.
Tucker may have gotten his idea from Christopher Hitchens. Having read Michelle Obama's Princeton thesis, Hitchens said, "It is written in no known language." This is, of course, fun stuff, especially if you have an ax to grind. But it is kind of sad. Michelle thought she had accomplished something. Her professors misled her. This misdirection carries through to the present, when she claims she is smarter than any world leader. Not surprisingly, Michelle defends Dr. Jill.
Joe Biden, at a campaign stop, explained why his wife wanted a doctorate. "She said, 'I was so sick of the mail coming to Sen. and Mrs. Biden. I wanted to get mail addressed to Dr. and Sen. Biden.' That's the real reason she got her doctorate," he said. (Robin Abcarion, Hi, I'm Jill. Jill Biden. But Please Call Me Dr. Biden, February 2, 2009, Los Angeles Times) A damning critique of Jill. Why would Joe say this in public? A joke or a vicious putdown? What more needs to be said?
Christopher Garbacz is a former professor who lives on a lake in Madison County.
