Did you know there is now actually a degree in "Ignorance Studies"? Really, you couldn't make up this nonsense - the government needs to act now. Modules include Dangers of Giving Kids Ideas Above their Station, It Never happened in My Day, Why can't I find a Decent Plumber, Grumpy Old Men (psychology and political discourse) .....and so on.
Sorry, I made that up, provoked by the latest diatribe against "Mickey Mouse degrees" - by now a well established literary sub-genre - from the Taxpayers' Alliance in its Non-Courses Report.
It's no surprise to see them having a go at courses in Outdoor Adventure and Philosophy or Science: Fiction and Culture, but I was surprised to find there are exactly 401 "non-courses".
What is a non-course? Their definition: "does the course require scholarship that could reasonably be defined as academic?" strikes me as unacademically vague.
They quote good academics like Professor Alan Smithers, of Buckingham University - but place him in the wrong institution (he left Liverpool some time ago), which isn't a fundamental point unless you are making yourselves out to be judges of academic rigour.
Caribbean studies, says the report, was not included despite being so "esoteric", which hints at the snobbery of this approach. Why Caribbean studies should be more esoteric than, say, ancient near east studies or American studies is not explained.
Of course students need to take care of their job prospects - in the flourishing outdoor activities market, perhaps - but they should also get the chance to do something they enjoy and have their minds expanded and prejudices challenged.
It is alas too late to challenge the prejudices of the Taxpayers' Alliance.
