The Return to Civilised Teaching, or: „Look on my works, ye Apparatchiks, and despair!“

The Return to Civilised Teaching, or: „Look on my works, ye Apparatchiks, and despair!“

Roger Scruton:

Buckingham is a unique institution, probably the least politically correct university in Europe, and one that is organized more or less entirely on business principles, paying people like me according to their success in attracting students. […] Founded by Margaret Thatcher, Buckingham was at first more a business school than a fully developed university. Now it has a growing and successful humanities faculty, and takes advantage of the Charter which some neglectful bureaucrat allowed it to obtain in order to validate degrees at both undergraduate and postgraduate level. It is expanding its presence in London, with the use of a building in Gower Street and the possibility of obtaining a permanent home in the centre, within mortar range of the BBC. My own course takes place in a private dining room at a London Club, where the students can enjoy discussion and wine over dinner, supplemented by private tutorials leading to a written thesis on a topic agreed between us. This return to civilised teaching, of people who are really interested in learning, has been a refreshing experience for me, and the success of the first year has encouraged me to offer the course again for the year to come.

(Bild: Pressematerial auf der Homepage von Roger Scruton, Ausschnitt.)