Monday, June 06, 2011

Eagleton on NCHum

I'm not really convinced by most of it as a matter of general principle, but anyone interested in the subject of Grayling's New College of the Humanities project really should read Eagleton's take-down of the idea. This is pretty much the way to make the argument against it.

The master of the college will be public sage and identikit Islington Man, AC Grayling. Many observers, he comments, will be surprised to see a group of "almost pinko" academics pitching in to the project. If Dawkins, Colley, Ricks and Ferguson are pinko, I'm a deep shade of indigo. Anyway, why should anyone be surprised at the prospect of academics signing on for a cushy job at 25% more than the average university salary, with shares in the enterprise to boot?