Mutter, mutter, mutter …

Whilst looking up some info on a Samuel Taylor Coleridge quote, I ran across this little passage in the middle of a description of how to get a Ph.D. in Communication at North Dakota State University, describing the “reflective essay” that all candidates must write.

1. The reflective essay has a long and rich history. For example, Samuel Taylor Coleridge is quoted (with a masculinist bias), “There is one art of which man [sic] should be master, the art of reflection.”

Puh. Leaze.

First off, do follks actually quote that passage from Coleridge with a “masculinist bias”? I presume by such bias they mean that it is quoted in such a way as to exclude women — and, I will grant you that someone writing that today would probably be rightfully so accused (or at least accused of lack of inclusiveness by not saying “man and woman” or “a human”). But given that Coleridge died in 1834, it is, perhaps, more than a bit over-sensitive to say that anyone who quotes him is guilty of a masculist bias (unless, of course, it’s draped with caveats about masculinist bias).

If what was meant was that Coleridge himself had a “masculist bias,” I don’t know if that’s actually true (given the era, it certainly could be, and even may be presumed so by modern sensibilities), but it’s poor writing (ironically enough) on the site’s part if that’s what they’re trying to say.

Nor, one assumes, would it be necessary to actually place a sic next to the evil “M” word — yes, we trust that’s actually what he wrote, folks. And if we’re properly indoctrinated, we’re all aware that Folks Used To Write That Way, the Insensitive Bastards.

Of course, I’m assuming that the writer of the course description knows of the era that Coleridge came from, and that he isn’t, for example, some Fat Cat Republican white male sitting in Washington right now today cranking out masculinist prose.

But maybe that’s a foolish assumption on my part.

I guess what irks me is that this sort of Political Correctness is sitting in the middle of a communication doctorate course description. Were I considering going to NDSU, I would certanily run, not walk, in the opposite direction.