Destruction, degree by degree

Public higher education in Illinois: Western Illinois University is preparing to eliminate degree programs in African-American studies, philosophy, religious studies, and women’s studies. Faculty positions may be cut in the 2017–18 school year.

In March I wrote about what I called “the mantra of ‘flexibility’” in higher education. I described it as

a strategy to diminish or eliminate whole fields of academic endeavor: African-American studies, art history, classical studies, cultural studies, foreign languages, literature, philosophy, queer studies, women’s studies, whatever might be deemed impractical, unprofitable, unacceptable.

The present (manufactured) budget crisis in Illinois offers an easy excuse for “flexibility,” really another name for destruction.

Related reading
All OCA Illinois budget crisis posts (Pinboard)