....If you are after a Ph.D. in astronomy, UCSC is a
wonderful place to get one ... but you will start by getting a degree in physics including
the toughest of mathematics, and will study also chemistry, geology, technical
photography, computer science—and will resent any time not leading toward the
ultra-interdisciplinary subject lumped under the deceptively simple word
"astronomy."....
Breadth—the humanities, natural
science, and social science—1/3 in
each, total 3/3 or one academic year, but spread as suits you over the years.
Classically "the humanities" are defined as literature, philosophy, and
art—but history has been added since it stopped being required in college and became
"social studies" in secondary schools. "Natural science" does
not necessarily mean what it says—it can be a "non-alcoholic gin"; see
below. "Social science" means that grab bag of studies in which answers
are matters of opinion. … Courses satisfying "breadth"
requirements
Humanities
Literature and Politics—political
& moral choices in literature
Philosophy of the Self
Philosophy of History in the Prose and Poetry of W. B. Yeats
Art and the Perceptual Process
The Fortunes of Faust
Science and the American Culture (satisfies
both the Humanities requirement and the American History and Institutions requirement without
teaching any science or any basic American History. A companion course, Science
and Pressure Politics, satisfies both the Social Sciences requirement and the
American History and Institutions requirement while teaching still less; it concentrates
on post-World-War-II period and concerns scientists as lobbyists and their own
inter-actions [rows] with Congress and the President. Highly recommended as a way to avoid
learning American history or very much social "science.")
American Country Music—Whee! You
don't play it, you listen.
Man and the Cosmos—philosophy,
sorta. Not science.
Science Fiction (I refrain from comment.)
The Visual Arts—"What, if any, are
the critical and artistic foundations for judgment in the visual arts?"—exact
quotation from catalog.
Mysticism—that's what it says.
(The above list is incomplete.)
Natural Science requirement
General Astronomy—no
mathematics required
Marine Biology—no mathematics required
Sound, Music, and Tonal Properties of Musical Instruments—neither
math nor music required for this one!
Seminar. Darwin's Explanation
Mathematical Ideas—for nonmathematicians;
requires only that high school math you must have to enter.
The Phenomenon of Man—"—examine
the question of whether there remains any meaning to human values." (Oh, the pity of
it all!)
Physical Geography: Climate
The Social "Sciences"
requirement
Any course in Anthropology—many
have no prereq.
Introduction to Art Education—You don't
have to make art; you study how to teach it.
Music and the Enlightenment—no technical
knowledge of music required. This is a discussion of the effect of music on
philosophical, religious, and social ideas, late 18th-early 19th centuries. That is
what it says-and it counts as "social science."
The Novel of Adultery—and this, too,
counts as "social science." I don't mind anyone studying this subject or
teaching it—but I object to its being done on my (your, our) tax money. (P.S. The
same bloke teaches science fiction. He doesn't write science fiction; I don't
know what his qualifications are in this other field.)
Human Sexuality
Cultural Roots for Verbal and Visual Expression—a
fancy name of still another "creative writing" class with frills—the
students are taught how to draw out "other culture" pupils. So it says.
All the 30-odd "Community Studies"
courses qualify as "social science," but I found myself awed by these two: Politics
and Violence, which studies, among other things, "political
assassination as sacrifice" and Leisure and Recreation in the Urban
Community ("Bread and Circuses").
Again, listing must remain incomplete; I picked those below as
intriguing:
Seminar: Evil and the Devil in the Hindu Tradition.
Science and Pressure Politics—already
mentioned on page 529 as the course that qualifies both as social "science" and
as American History and Institutions while teaching an utter minimum about each. The
blind man now has hold of the elephant's tail.
The Political Socialization of la Raza—another
double header, social "science" and American History and Institutions. It
covers greater time span (from 1900 rather than from 1945) but it's like comparing cheese
and chalk to guess which one is narrower in scope in either category.
The name of this game is to plan a course involving
minimum effort and minimum learning while "earning" a degree under the rules of
the nation's largest and most prestigious state university.
To take care of "breadth" and also the American history your
high school did not require I recommend Science and Pressure Politics, The
Phenomenon of Man, and American Country Music.
These three get you home free without learning any math, history, or language that
you did not already know ... and without sullying your mind with science. ...
....You still have time for many electives and will need them for your required
hours-units-courses; here are some fun-filled ones that will teach you almost nothing:
The Fortunes of Faust
Mysticism
The Search for a New Life Style
The American Dilemma—Are "all men
equal"?
Enology—history, biology, and chemistry of
wine-making and wine appreciation. This one will teach you something but it's too
good to miss.
Western Occultism: Magic, Myth, and Heresy.
There is an entire college organized for fun and games ("aesthetic
enrichment"). It offers courses for credit but you'll be able to afford
noncredit activity as well in your lazyman's course—and anything can be turned
into credit by some sincere selling to your adviser and/or Academic Committee. I
have already listed nine of its courses but must add:
Popular Culture
—plus clubs or "guilds" for gardening, photography, film media, printing,
pottery, silkscreening, orchestra, jazz, etc.
Related are Theater Arts. These courses
give credit, including:
Films of Fantasy and Imagination—fantasy,
horror, SF, etc. (!)
Seminar on Films
Filmmaking
History and Aesthetics of Silent Cinema
History and Aesthetics of Cinema since Sound
Introduction to World Cinema
Sitting and looking at movies can surely be justified for an English
major. Movies and television use writers-as little as possible, it's true. But
somewhat; the linkage is there.
Enjoy yourself while it lasts. These dinosaurs are on their way
to extinction.
The 2-year "warm body" campus is even more
lavish than UCSC. It is a good trade school for some things—e.g., dental
assistant. But it offers a smörgåsbord of fun—Symbolism of the Tarot,
Intermediate Contract Bridge, Folk Guitar, Quilting, Horseshoeing, Chinese Cooking, Hearst
Castle Tours, Modern Jazz, Taoism, Hatha Yoga Asanas, Aikido, Polarity Therapy, Mime,
Raku, Bicycling, Belly Dancing, Shiatsu Massage, Armenian Cuisine, Revelation and
Prophecy, Cake Art, Life Insurance Sales Techniques, Sexuality and Spirituality, Home
Bread Baking, Ecuadorian Backstrap Weaving, The Tao of Physics, and lots, lots
more! One of the newest courses is "The Anthropology of Science Fiction"
and I'm still trying to figure that out.
I have no objection to any of this … but why should this
kindergarten be paid for by taxes? "Bread and Circuses." ....
—
Robert A. Heinlein, Expanded Universe, pp. 528 - 535
The quotes are from the full text of the cited pages
____________________
* Expanded Universe, Robert A.
Heinlein, ISBN: 0-441-21889-X, 1980, ACE Books, Charter Communications, Inc., 200 Madison
Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016 |
