The Outerview Series: Part XXII - Oh, the Humanities

                                                Universities are Killing the Humanities

     Between 2020 and 2023 the number of English PhDs rose almost 14% from 3.2 million to 3.7 million.  Of course, only a few of them became college professors and more than half probably specialized in prose rather than poetry.  Adam Walker of the "Close Reading Poetry" YouTube blog (above) is an ex-academic wondering why English departments are in such decline after cresting in the 1950s.  Insularity is cited as a core issue.  Meanwhile, university presses are shutting down.  The Humanities are being defunded by governments.  Literary museums are being closed.  Books are being written about the declining interest and support for the Arts.  Of course, the arts community is blaming economic interests pressuring politicians.

     In sharp contrast to technicians such as ourselves, Adam Walker is a content regent.  We won't dwell on the irony of such an interpretationalst wondering why academia is failing for now.  We'll come back to this lack of self-awareness later.  To his credit, in the last minute of this lecture he does acknowledge the need for academia to serve the community.

      Suppose you were taking a trip to Italy.  Not one to do things in half measure, you sign up for a long, expensive course in conversational Italian.  After a few classes, you realize that they are teaching nothing but the rise and fall of the Roman empire.  It's interesting, but you aren't learning a word of Italian!

      Similarly, content regents never mention actual poetry or any of its elements in their discourses.  Here is an entire glossary of terms you won't hear from academics, including Mr. Walker.  Instead, they meander on about philosophy, politics, history, psychology, sociology, or even gossip--everything but concision and repetition, the things that make words memorable (and, thus, poetry).  Chances of these people passing a simple test on poetry fundamentals?  Nil.

      Narrowing our focus to poetry, we might not be able to say that academia caused the death of poetry but it did nothing to prevent the demise and certainly adjusted well to the loss.  Colleges have not been the place to learn the elements of verse--not how to write, critique, edit or present it.  You can spend six years and upwards of $150,000, get a PhD, and not know whether "The Red Wheel Barrow" is free verse or metrical.  Even more to the point, there will be precious few job opportunities to help you pay off that debt.  Unless you are the child of wealthy parents, you cannot afford a literary education before, during, or after your studies.  

      Here is the best advice we can render:  If a poetry teacher's first question about a poem involves its meaning you should run away as fast as your legs can carry you, cursing in Italian as you do so.  As for "close reading" of a mode of speech, the less said the better.