A reader who identifies himself as a tenured college professor in a STEM field at a state university, who remains closeted as a conservative out of fear, writes to say that he holds humanities degrees, but:

I’m a long time reader but am writing for the first time to ask a question.  You write:

“There are some readers, apparently, who believe that I really do advocate closing down the university humanities departments. Honestly, people. Honestly.”

My question is, why on earth not?

My own department has many problems, but there are senior faculty on the left defending us against a particularly ideological version of an “anti-discrimination” class taught by one of our own.  I’m sure there are still some noble souls teaching Shakespeare and Chaucer well, but for the most part I think the humanities departments that should be the heart of the university are now almost completely hydra-headed cancers further afflicting an already perhaps fatally weak patient.  Amputation may be the only answer.  Someday we can grow a new heart.

(I had to slightly edit even this part, because the professor is afraid. One of the things that many liberals simply cannot grasp is how fearful conservatives on university faculties are about their position there, as schools become more liberal, and more ideological. I suppose they cannot imagine that Good People Like Themselves could treat others that way, or make others feel that they have to hide a part of themselves for self-protection in the workplace.)

I’m going to throw it out there to you readers, especially you teachers and professors in the humanities. What do you think?