Academic arrogance

Normally I think there's two sides to every story and the differences are often a matter of diverging perspectives.

I don't think so this time.  There's an online dust-up between Indiana University dean Blaise Cronin and various bloggers, who are upset at Cronin's look-down-his-nose dismissive of the blog world.  Cronin thinks, bemusedly, that blogs are unworthy, or "narcissistic" and "banal," as he sniffs.

Part of Cronin's beef is just the language used in blogs, which he finds unrefined.  With that I agree, to an extent, as discussed here.  But he's missed the wider point about the value of blogs.  He accurately notes, with what I'll politely call academic flourish, that blogs have driven some issues into "mainstream" media (think Dan Rather), but it seems clear he prefers the fortress of the academia and the high discourse of ideas rather than the new, organic growth of thought in new media (see his little slam on Wikipedia).  Apparently librarians know better.

I'll take a pass (Did you see that?  "Take a pass" is a phrase I'd bet the dean not oft utters.  Pardon my proletariat self.) on slamming Cronin himself any further -- I think his missed point and his arrogant tone speak for him.  But I'll use the occasion to make another point about the academic world.

My friend Mike Arrington, the first to notice Cronin's wave of the hand (and he's still steamed) noted in his original post a theory he and I share:  some people eventually spend enough time in worlds of their own creation that they lose their ability to relate with the give and take of the real world.  That's how people like Martha Stewart can't understand the concept of being held accountable.  I think most ICANN activity falls into this trap, too.

I also believe the academic culture -- for all its abilities -- has this problem as well, and I say that with real respect for the many academics I know.  Go to any academic plenary and you might get to hear a discussion like "The Dualist Logic: Relativism, Dogmatism and Intersubjectivity -- and the Disestablished Rational Western Pluralism."  Or whatever.  I'm sure this kind of thing means something to the someone, and there are exceptions to everything, of course, but to people who have to produce and be professionally accountable, these kinds of things do not even approach relevancy and are endless exercises in nothing.

You say that's only one point of view?  You're right.  So don't listen to me -- I'm just an idiot with a blog.  But do listen to USC Professor Warren Bennis, respected equally by professionals and academicians.  Bennis just issued a scathing report on academic relevance.  It's focused on business schools, but you'd be hard-pressed to say it couldn't apply across the academic board.  Excerpts (emphasis mine):

"Business schools are on the wrong track," Warren G. Bennis and James O'Toole, professors at the University of Southern California, conclude in this month's Harvard Business Review.

"During the past several decades, many leading B schools have quietly adopted an inappropriate -- and ultimately self-defeating -- model of academic excellence," they write.

"Instead of measuring themselves in terms of the competence of their graduates, or by how well their faculties understand important drivers of business performance, they measure themselves almost solely by the rigor of their scientific research."

Business schools have gone that route in part to make sure they are seen as more than trade schools, the authors say, but also because they seem to suffer from "physics envy" and are bent on demonstrating that the study of business can be as disciplined and quantitative as the science of black holes, quarks and leptons.

That decision feeds on itself, the authors write.  Professors trained in quantitative research hire faculty members with the same inclination and make being published in technical journals a condition for continued employment.

"Today it is possible to find tenured professors of management who have never set foot inside a real business, except as customers," they write.

"By allowing the scientific research model to drive out all others, business schools are institutionalizing their own irrelevance," Bennis and O'Toole contend, adding that the concerns of the real world must -- to some degree -- find their way into the classroom.

I'm not even a B school grad.  I attended a liberal arts university as an undergrad and am glad I did.  I was exposed to all kinds of points of view I would not have otherwise considered, and it gave me the ability to think more critically and behave with more empathy -- that is, to consider other points of view, even if I ultimately disagreed.  It's been useful in my career, in my personal life, and in my relationships.

Cronin writes well about the open-mindedness that universities love to tout (but I think actually don't tolerate).  I don't, though, find him particularly empathetic -- though if he disagrees, I'd be happy to listen to a reasoned point of view.  Provided of course, it's a reciprocal conversation.  I'm not too optimistic.

Comments

[Michael Arrington]

Hi Mason,

I agree with you. For some reason the Cronin essays really ticked me off and I wrote on and on about them. I've thought about deleting or toning down my posts on him but to be honest the comments I am receiving are all very positive. And, I find that my rantings just about define the middle ground between the really angry people and the much more reasoned blog postings. Anyway, its all very entertaining!

[Mason]

Don't worry about toning it down. The guy deserves a reality check. I doubt it will sink in, but he needs one anyway.

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Blogs are good for every one where we get lots of information for any topics nice job keep it up !!!