For the first time in 30 years, Harvard University is overhauling their curriculum!

If your thinking is anything like mine, you might assume this means they are making it tougher—you know, don’t most people expect Ivy League schools to maintain rigorous academic standards?

Yeah, not so much.

Get a load of this: the school is putting new emphasis on sensitive religious and cultural issues. Oh yeah, they want to overcome American parochialism.

According to an article by Reuters, the school has been criticized for “focusing too narrowly on academic topics instead of real-life issues.”

Harvard in biggest curriculum overhaul in 30 years By Jason Szep 2/07/07

Well yeah, nobody goes to college to focus on academic topics! It’s all about cultural…you know…stuff.

“One of the eight new required subject areas — “societies of the world” — aims to help students overcome U.S. “parochialism” by acquainting them with the values, customs and institutions that differ from their own.”

What’s wrong with math, science, foreign languages and I don’t know…history?

I know this much, I won’t ever (ever!!) pay $50,000/year for my kids to learn the “values” and “customs” of other societies. Why? Because knowing (for example) the marital customs of the say, the Basari people, won’t help my kid get a job!

At the risk of sounding parochial, I want my kids to stick with essentials…they can read about African tribes on their own time!