Mark Edmundson On The Uses Of A Liberal Education Analysis

Mark Edmundson’s essay, “On the Uses of a Liberal Education,” was published in Harper’s magazine in the fall of 1997. Edmundson begins the article by giving us a glimpse into his own experiences teaching. He speaks on how, he dreads evaluation day at the end of each term, he feels he is being reviewed more on his entertaining ability and less on if the student felt changed by his course. Near the end of the article, Edmundson states, “My overall point is this: It’s not that a left-wing professional coup has taken over the university. It’s that at American universities, left-liberal politics have collided with the ethos of consumerism. The consumer ethos is winning.” (pg. 48) This article is about how the younger generation has been raised with
A prizewinning scholar, he has published several works of literary and cultural criticism. He has also written for such publications as The New York Times Magazine and Harper’s, where he is a contributing editor. To establish his ethos, Edmundson uses his position as a professor as a way to portray to the audience his knowledge of the changes on campus and in the classroom first hand. The author uses examples in the article that supports his opinions on the consumer worldview and the degrading of our higher
Edmundson believes their objective changed from higher education to entertainment. The colleges turned their focus into making consumers happy. Edmundson describes a happy consumer as, “one with multiple options, one who can have what he wants. And since a course is something the students and their parents have bought and paid for, why can’t they do with it pretty much as they please?” (pg. 44) Edmundson believes the problem with this way of thinking is that students will miss out on something that could change their whole way of thinking. College students don’t want to be challenged they just want to make it through the class. A financial officer at the college broke it down to Edmundson saying that “colleges don’t have admissions offices anymore, they have marketing departments.” (pg. 44) According to Edmundson, to stay in business this change was going to happen. It was inevitable. This turning point is when universities and individual departments started competing for students. Colleges had to become lax in grading and major requirements. The author has noticed changes in the layout of his university over the past couple of years stating, “the place is looking more and more like a retirement spread for the young.” (pg. 43) Edmundson believes these changes are related to universities conforming to the buyer’s market. He states,