Project Proposal

English 330 Group Project Proposal
Group Members: Kristina Larson, Nathan Bertrand, Molly Sotham, Jessica Cole and Hilary Snodden.

In 2006, Simon Fraser University instituted the “Writing, Quantitative, and Breadth” requirements for all undergraduate students. The most interesting of these requirements are those that oblige undergrads to take a course designated ‘writing intensive’ at both the upper and lower level. Why was this change instituted? Why did the University feel it needed to take a more active role in policing the writing skills of its students? We believe that this is an acknowledgement on the part of our administration of the academic degeneration that has permeated our society, a degeneration that became accelerate after the publication of Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species. By engaging issues of academic degeneration in both contemporary and Victorian times, our group polemical project will take the form of a blog, which can be found at: prasisebetodarwin.blogspot.com. We intend to discuss the topic of degeneration in education, and through individual posts and group discussion, we will try and prove the following thesis:
Since Darwin, society has degenerated due to the scientism of education in contemporary times, which is largely due to the inability of the traditional ‘classical education’ to adequately confront Darwin and science in the Victorian era.
So far, we have established that Mill on the Floss and Princess and Curdie, are fictional works that touch upon our thesis. We will also engage with the Matthew Arnold essays in Prose of the Victorian Era, as they along with George Elliot’s fiction, provide proof of the later half of our thesis in regards to the ‘classical’ Victorian education.
Potential lines of argument and topics of discussion include:

1. Prove through current and historical examples and journal articles that education has degenerated in both England and North America as Darwinian theories of evolution became more and more acceptable. Focusing on the increase in cheating and the degeneration of literary and communicative skills. We will also look at this issue as it pertains to Simon Fraser University, and the new “writing” requirements.

2. Prove that as scientific education gained priority, liberal arts education was ignored, and this has lead to the degeneration of society. We will try and make arguments that technology, especially technology and youth, lead to educational and social degeneration.

3. Illustrate that the Victorian’s recognized this eventuality, and resisted scientificism in education. However, we will also discuss that their immediate response of ‘clinging’ to a classical education was reactionary and counter productive. In essence, we will discuss why science cannot realistically be ignored. Examples would be Matthew Arnold’s essays, the notion of ‘bad teachers’ in Princess and Curdie, Thomas Arnold’s Public/Rugby School ideals, and Oxford University’s reluctance to form a medical school of physiology.

4. We will also look at the theme of education in Mill on the Floss as it pertains to Tom and his teachers, Mr. Tulliver and Mr. Riley, Philip Wakem, and Maggie. Potentially reading the novel as a response to both the increasing pervasiveness of science, as well as an argument against Arnold and other reactionary classicists.