#135 / Academia Takes It On!

I am currently teaching a course at the University of California, Santa Cruz: LGST 196, which is the Legal Studies Program's "Capstone Thesis" course. One of the applicable "Program Learning Objectives" applicable to this course, which instructors are mandated to document, is a requirement that students "develop and communicate well-organized, persuasive, and well-supported written and oral arguments and analyses regarding law and legal issues based on appropriate empirical and/or theoretical evidence and logic (emphasis added)."

Among other things, this means that students must utilize "academic level" research sources as they write their papers. No bullshit is permitted! That's the idea, anyway. 

I was fascinated to learn, recently, that academic-level researchers have now turned their attention to the topic of "bullshit" itself, documenting what it is, and who does it. That's right; academia has taken on "bullshit" as an official topic of research and explication. You can read about it right here, in "Bullshitters. Who Are They and What Do We Know about Their Lives?"

If you believe a recent summary of the article, found on Twitter, Canadians are the biggest bullshitters.

Students in the United States are Number Two. But not, let me say, in LGST 196!!

Image Credit:
https://tenor.com/search/bullshit-gifs