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David, 
 
I also appreciate the fact that url's are easy to garble. So let me mend 
the link to Kloss's piece at UC Davis that you cite. 
 
http://www-honors.ucdavis.edu/fh/ct/kloss.html 
 
The link on Feiner's email to the same article did not give me any trouble. 
Here it is again. 
 
http://www.btinternet.com/%7Epae_news/Kloss.htm 
 
In the discussion of teaching social science classics to Freshmen, It seems 
there are two main themes. The first notes that students today are too 
ignorant to understand classics. The second thread, seems to be addressing 
ways to engage students and recognize the complexity of analysis. Perry's 
work is seful here. Rather than viewing the students as unworthy vessals, 
the second theme seems to recognize that students who perceive education as 
something to endure will not become actively engaged. The seven wonders of 
the world could be displayed in the room for their enjoyment and the most 
the teacher could elicit would be "whatever." 
 
I think this issue can be partially addressed in economics by letting the 
students recognize that there are disagreements in the discipline, that it 
is a policy science, and the goal of the individual analyst is to develop a 
tight logical argument well supported by relevant evidence. Attention to 
assumptions, theory, logic, and policy conclusions become a necessary part 
of the discipline. In HET, this means engaging the students in multiple 
interpretations of the text. At least this is what motivated me. 
 
A subject that has not been brought up is why American and increasingly 
Canadian students have such a lack of engagement in the world around them. 
 
Very interesting thread. 
 
Eric Hake 
 
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