I want to seed a differently geared discussion about the purpose of university off the back of this thread. I teach lit studies and write in academic and non-academic fora. I think the literary, historical, social & critical close reading practice we teach is really important. https://twitter.com/ms_michellelaw/status/1293804521672462336

Lit studies is not above criticism (lol, of course!) but we don't teach creative writing in my program, and in fact at my uni the English and Writing disciplines split before I arrived. This split is common, but not universal, and is widely documented across the sector.

It makes me sad because it is a historical, social and political problem that manifests as wild and toxic struggles between individual academics. These struggles relate to how these individuals are responding to changes in higher ed. And it's interesting right now because...

from one POV, the tension between literary studies & creative writing mirrors a general tension between teaching & learning knowledge for the sake of it and the teaching of targeted job-ready knowledges and skills. This struggle is over the purpose of higher education in 2020.

The Tehan reforms will defund the public university, increase student debt and refocus higher education entirely on job training to "future proof" careers. Presently, my future depends on the university because it's my employer.

But I'm not going to blindly defend university just to defend my job. After all, I was taught and teach critical thinking. What is our response to the present challenge? What does a "university" AND a "job market" even look like in the post pandemic climate changing future?