While reviewing this week's readings, I was struck with many ideas for reaction posts. I certainly wanted to reflect on and weigh in on the concept of tenure. The slight aside made about students' calls for their professors and teaching assistants to speak "proper English" could launch me into more than a 500 word post. Structures of funding - private and governmental - of higher education sparked many thoughts in my mind. But when it came down to it, I realized I wanted to write about the subjectivity of the book by Kolodny.
I enjoy reading a well-articulated, backed-up persuasive essay. As a word nerd and a lover of writing, I enjoy the crafting of such essays. But I struggle when such works do not acknowledge or seek to understand other perspectives. With the way Kolodny wrote this book, it is easy to adopt her assertions as unwavering truth and develop incredulous feelings toward any conflicting ideas. She paints a very beautiful one-sided picture, but it does not sit well with me. In any situation like this, I grow frustrated. I maintain a strong belief that people do not, in general, act irrationally. The beliefs they have, the values they maintain, and the behaviors they enact can usually be explained. Although there can be significant issues in the explanation for such beliefs, values, and behaviors, understanding the reasoning behind them is the best way to help change them - in my opinion. This is what worries me about Kolodny's book. Because ideas that conflict her own are so negatively portrayed, readers may be discouraged from trying to seek out the reasoning behind these ideas. Those who are enraged by such practices and principles that seem to make little sense may want to affect change in these areas, but it is so hard to do so without an understanding of them. In short, I think Kolodny's book fuels polarity much more than it presents actionable recommendations for improving higher education. I would be hypocritical, however, if I simply made this claim and left it at that. I do not discount Kolodny's research, ideas, and assertions; in fact, most of Kolodny's claims are ones I agree with, promote, and try to share with others. I appreciate that her book has made me spend more time considering other perspectives as she presents them as being irrational. Additionally, it has made me take greater stock of what I believe and the reasons behind these beliefs.
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Kristin KreherMy happiness comes from meaningful interactions, the outdoors, thrift shops, and saying "thank you." Archives
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