When did the switch happen...and who mandated it?

Sometime in the last 15 years I am guessing, AD and BC have been all but eliminated and replaced with BCE and CE. But that's okay, the very best history books were written well before the change anyway so I needn't be bothered by it. Unless of course they undergo a more recent reprint and then I can be grieved.

But, a bigger issue is related:

HERE
is an interview with Dr. Elizabeth Kantor who has written a book entitled "The Politically Incorrect Guide to English and American Literature"

What interests me particularly about this book is that it is more than just an expose' of some of the insanity being taught in college literature classes these days, but also Dr. Kantor offers guidance on what students SHOULD be getting from classical western literature. Hello, Homeschoolers?

God preserve our children from missing the greatness of MacBeth and instead learning that a "major project" in the work is "the domestication of women."

Any thoughts?

Comments

Anonymous said…
BCE always annoys me. I make a special point of correcting it whenever I get the chance. -- Bob K.
Anonymous said…
"English professors are teaching--no joke--comic books, foreign films, Marx, Freud, "deconstruction," popular music,"

Oooooh.... such a collection of baddies! Whatever will poor unsuspecting undergrads do? Having to watch a foreign film!


I think the point is, why should English teachers be teaching these things? Certainly it's good for students to be exposed to the classics of foreign cinema, but do they belong in English class? (I'm not even sure English-language films should be taught in English classes, which would seem to have instruction in the writing and reading of the language as their primary purpose).

As for BCE/CE, these are preposterous euphemisms which I categorically refuse to employ, even though the textbook I usually teach from has switched to them in the latest edition.
fdj said…
Yes, you missed the point Serpahim: ENGLISH teachers NOT teaching ENGLISH.

I'm with Dr. Kantor...I don't think the higher educational compass is using magnetism to plot their courses...if you get my meaning. Their being guided by something other than what I would consider simple, basic, rational, and classical education.

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