The Rise and Fall of the Western Civilization Course

I found The Rise and Fall of the Western Civilization Course to be a bit problematic. Allardyce seems to understand that Western Humanities/Civilization courses’ creation was politically motivated, as the government wanted its politically advantageous ties to be supported by history, even if that history had to be constructed. Examples of history and culture being tweaked to support politics are still prevalent today, whether it is this nation being founded upon “Christian values,” which conveniently leaves out which values all Christians have that are uniquely Christian, or the recent exaltation of Ronald Reagan during the Republican primary debates. This article draws attention to these examples, which we could learn from, but seems to lament the death of these propaganda-sessions, saying “the elective system was truly the guillotine of the revolutionary process.”  From the text we must assume that students deciding for themselves what they want to study unfairly killed a movement.
            The general education movement leaves too many unanswered questions for me. What class is so important that all students must take it? Why can’t we trust the students to recognize its importance? Who gets to decide what “‘all educated persons should know?’” While the body of literature and other forms of art increases exponentially, the authors that are studied in the Western Humanities canon remain the same Caucasian males the teachers were brought up believing to be important. This creates a cultural disconnect that, in my experience, makes students less drawn to learning. While well intended, the general education movement has resulted in dangerous nationalism and misconceptions, which still afflict the world to this day.

            I am concerned about taking another Western Humanities/Civilization class knowing that throughout history they have intentionally misrepresented the world to support someone’s cause or idea. I can’t help but worry that I won’t realize when I’m not being told the whole truth. But then, why is Western Humanities different from any other class? I suppose I need this class because it is the first class demanding that I not only learn, but also learn how to analyze to what degree the information is trustworthy. Challenging information is never really taught in high school; after all, teenagers are hard enough to control while they trust what they’re being told. I suppose I won’t know this course’s effect on me until I've finished it; until then, I’m cautiously optimistic.