University Assigns Anti-Trump Reading

I’m honestly not sure why most people go to college these days. It doesn’t seem to be for occupational readiness, because many of these majors aren’t in the least bit employable (outside of academia). It’s not to grow children into adults, because they’re being treated as though they’re in kindergarten. Students might want a degree in confirmation bias, but is that what their parents are expecting when they write the checks? Case in point: University of Colorado at Colorado Springs has a course on rhetoric that is requiring students to read anti-Trump materials, Campus Reform reported. The best part? The course it taught by Katherine Mack, who is the head of the English department, and is required for any student majoring in Rhetoric and Writing.

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The books describe “The Trump Effect,” saying it is prejudiced against immigrants, Muslims, and the LGBT community. Campus Reform obtained a copy of the syllabus, which included this statement:

The political rhetoric of the 2016 election was particularly vitriolic and uncivil, and, according to many, even less grounded in objective truths than elections past.

In case you think maybe she applies this statement to both candidates, let’s look at some of the reading. For example, Post-Truth Rhetoric and Composition by Bruce McComiskey. In this required reading, he says that the “Trump Effect” must be “immediately and forcefully” challenged, or students will begin:

Inciting xenophobia, retreating into isolationism, resorting to shouting, causing disruption, spouting insults, securing exclusion, encouraging divisiveness, spewing invective, exploiting fear, and desiring success at all costs.

He also says that Trump’s “most troubling trait” is his “untrustworthiness” which people who display “prejudice” find the “most attractive.” Hillary was a paragon of honesty?

The course catalog makes it sound so normal, too.

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Advanced study of the rhetoric of a particular public issue. Issues, theoretical materials, historical moment, and readings shift with topic.

It costs about $25,000 for an in-state student to attend UC Colorado Springs, $40,000 for an out-of-state student. And this is what they’re teaching. How will this help them get a job, again?

 

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