----------------- HES POSTING ----------------- 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 ------------ FOOTER TO HES POSTING ------------ For information, send the message "info HES" to [log in to unmask]