The United States, and Wisconsin in particular, is well known for its quality of education. Here, proper funding and the right approach to teaching allow those who seek knowledge to excel. The words “university” and “college” are derived from the Latin words “universitas” and “collegium,” respectively. I make reference to those because they indicate a purpose that is largely forgotten by many students at well-regarded institutions. Namely, that those are places where scholars are living in search of knowledge and under a common set of rules.

Having lived in the United States for a couple of years, I can say that average midwesterners do not really care about the world that extends beyond their own backyard. I am not only referring to their poor knowledge of geography and politics, but also of the broadly defined humanities.

As a freshman in an English class, I was surprised to realize that after having watched a movie making obvious references to the Greek tragedy tradition, no one was able to notice it. My classmates have not even heard of Sophocles or the concept of catharsis being the culmination of a play.

Furthermore, their knowledge of classical mythology was probably equivalent to what a child learns from Disney’s movie “Hercules.”

Common students at UW-Eau Claire often not only know little about literature, but their knowledge in other areas not related to their majors is deficient as well. I am surprised to see this, knowing that this is a really good school, which offers countless courses in different departments and allows for a very flexible degree – one I did not imagine pursuing before coming to the United States.

Secondary education is often criticized for this problem, and while such assessments are true to some extent, I believe there is more to it. Perhaps the quality of teaching in most high schools requires improvement, but there, too, students have the opportunity to challenge themselves with personalized coursework that may extend into what people normally learn in college worldwide.

The problem lies in the fact that people simply do not want to know more than they have to, and the minimal requirements are easy to satisfy in both high school and college. If a topic is not covered in class, and if a person does not accidentally bump into it while watching a new Hollywood release, it will probably remain undiscovered. Many already see reading Shakespeare in high school as being unnecessary, not to mention going beyond that.

While evaluating education in terms of usefulness is not bad in itself, life consists of more esoteric and abstract elements, too. The worlds of philosophy, literature, visual arts and music, which are the humanities (Hibbard Hall should ring a bell), are not always “useful” in a very mundane sense of the word but are essential for humans to feel human. Such knowledge enriches conversations, the appreciation of the world and critical thinking, and it provides continuity to our civilization.

Among other things, it also helps us better understand politics and religion. I summon those because everyone, curious about the world or not, embraces some political and religious perspective (being politically apathetic and being an agnostic are standpoints too). Still, I am amazed that people can firmly believe in something and not know more than mere superficial details.

A significant number of politically and religiously active students at Eau Claire are unaware of the sources of ideas they help to spread. Their life choices and commitments can be characterized more by trivialities and unwillingness to challenge the status quo than by the quest for knowledge. The worst thing is that the voluntary idleness of the mind is to blame.

A partial solution to this problem would be to improve the quality of teaching at the high school level so people can come to college more well educated. That would allow professors to lecture without the need to dedicate a significant amount of time to the introduction of every basic presented idea.

Most of all, however, people should start reading more books on their own. Knowledge needs to be sought because it will not be handed to us on a platter. No class will be able to teach us everything we need to know about a given topic. Courses in college are meant to be introductory lectures which present the tools needed to continue investigating various subjects on our own.

Not everyone will become a professor, but the least people can do is have the knowledge necessary to associate the movie Troy with Homer and the Iliad, rather than
Brad Pitt.

Wisniewski is a junior economics major and a columnist for The Spectator.