Another cool article for students, parents, and other curious people

This was the article from which I (ahem) borrowed the term I introduced in class: "academicize."

In this very well-argued essay, one of my favorite cultural and literary critics, Stanley Fish, very deftly explains the appropriate role of teachers in the liberal arts who venture into discussion and discourse with their students in the interest of tackling big questions in fields like philosophy, religion, and politics. His advice (remain objective, clarify the context of beliefs, and discuss their meaning and value on the basis of their cultural, not ideological, values) remains sound: teachers, no less than professors in universities, have no business proseletyzing, but neither should they avoid such subjects. To do either would rob students of rare opportunities for serious inquiry and reflection!