--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The number one problem in academia today…" description: "\"The number one problem in academia today is not ignorant students but ignorant professors, who have substituted narrow \"expertise\" and \"theoretical sop..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/548/camille-paglia-652_academia_the-number-one-problem-in-academia-today_108637.jpg" --- # The number one problem in academia today is not ignorant… ![“The number one problem in academia today is not ignorant students but ignorant professors, who have substituted narrow "expertise" and "theoretical sophistication" (a preposterous term) for breadth and depth of learning in the world history of art and thought... Art is a vast, ancient…” quote by Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/548/camille-paglia-652_academia_the-number-one-problem-in-academia-today_108637.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/548/camille-paglia-652_academia_the-number-one-problem-in-academia-today_108637.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/548/camille-paglia-652_academia_the-number-one-problem-in-academia-today_108637.jpg) > “The number one problem in academia today is not ignorant students but ignorant professors, who have substituted narrow "expertise" and "theoretical sophistication" (a preposterous term) for breadth and depth of learning in the world history of art and thought... Art is a vast, ancient interconnected web-work, a fabricated tradition. Overconcentration on any one point is a distortion. This is one of the primary reasons for the dullness and ineptitude of so much twentieth-criticism, as compared to nineteenth-century belles-lettres.” [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Paglia argues that academia suffers from professors who prioritize narrow expertise over broad, interdisciplinary learning, leading to shallow criticism and a distorted view of art history. **In simple terms:** Professors' narrow focus narrows academic insight. Key Takeaway Breadth in scholarship prevents distortion. Themes academia interdisciplinarity art history criticism Mood critical concerned Type analysis critique When to use this quote - university curricula design - research funding decisions Key Concepts intellectual humility specialization vs. generalism Practical Applications - encourage cross‑departmental seminars Questions to Reflect On - How can institutions balance depth and breadth? - What are the risks of over‑specialization? A Different Perspective Specialization can also drive deep breakthroughs; breadth alone may dilute expertise. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Academia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/academia/) [Ancient](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ancient/) [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Art is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-is/) [Art Thought](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art-thought-1295734/) [Breadth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breadth/) [Century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/century/) [Criticism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/criticism/) [Depth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depth/) [Distortion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/distortion/) [Dullness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dullness/) [Expertise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/expertise/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [History Of Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history-of-art/) [Ignorant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorant/) [Ignorant Professors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorant-professors-1295732/) [Ignorant Students](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ignorant-students-1295731/) [Ineptitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ineptitude/) [Interconnected](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interconnected/) [Nineteenth century](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nineteenth-century/) [Numbers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/numbers/) [Primaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/primaries/) [Problem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problem/) [Problem Academia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/problem-academia-1295733/) [Professors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/professors/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Sophistication](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sophistication/) [Students](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/students/) [Students Ignorant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/students-ignorant-667183/) [Term](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/term/) [Theoretical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theoretical/) [Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today/) [Tradition](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tradition/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [World history](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world-history/) ## Related quotes > [“Mrs. Hanks taught that everybody’s bodies were exactly the same. She was ignorant and didn't think much about things, but she was teaching her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-haubert/mrs-hanks-taught-that-everybody-s-bodies-were-exactly-the-same-she/) [Jesse Haubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-haubert/) > [A great friendship was like a great work of art, he thought. It took time and attention, and a spark of something that was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elise-broach/a-great-friendship-was-like-a-great-work-of-art-he-thought-it-took/) [Elise Broach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elise-broach/) > [I have always wanted to make art that I thought was a conversation starter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ariana-debose/i-have-always-wanted-to-make-art-that-i-thought-was-a-conversation/) [Ariana DeBose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ariana-debose/) > [The new school of art and thought does indeed wear an air of audacity, and breaks out everywhere into blasphemies, as if it required…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-new-school-of-art-and-thought-does-indeed-wear-an-air-of-audacity/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“She had never seen me draw–because not drawing and forgetting everything I knew about art, I thought, was the magic key to my becoming…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-vonnegut/she-had-never-seen-me-draw-because-not-drawing-and-forgetting/) [Kurt Vonnegut](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-vonnegut/) > [I was born into a world of art. I always thought that in life, you breathe, you eat, you go to sleep and you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paloma-picasso/i-was-born-into-a-world-of-art-i-always-thought-that-in-life-you/) [Paloma Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paloma-picasso/) > [“Art is your thought leaping. Art is your mind dancing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/art-is-your-thought-leaping-art-is-your-mind-dancing/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [If art doesn't require an audience, can an intimate conversation be a work of art? Can a thought be a work of art? Maybe.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-arthur/if-art-doesn-t-require-an-audience-can-an-intimate-conversation-be-a/) [James Arthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-arthur/) > [I remember Francis Bacon would say that he felt he was giving art what he thought it previously lacked. With me, it's what Yeats…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucian-freud/i-remember-francis-bacon-would-say-that-he-felt-he-was-giving-art/) [Lucian Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucian-freud/) > [Most of the criticism of my work was pretty good, but occasionally it would not be. And I just sort of felt that they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-barry/most-of-the-criticism-of-my-work-was-pretty-good-but-occasionally-it/) [Robert Barry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-barry/) > [To me, literature is a calling, even a kind of salvation. It connects me with an enterprise that is over 2,000 years old. What…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/to-me-literature-is-a-calling-even-a-kind-of-salvation-it-connects-me/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [If you follow the process of a thought - any thought, not just about art - the thought changes. It has to do with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-bleckner/if-you-follow-the-process-of-a-thought-any-thought-not-just-about-art/) [Ross Bleckner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-bleckner/) > [“...an acquaintance with the great works of art and thought is the only real insurance against the barbarism of the time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-wilson/an-acquaintance-with-the-great-works-of-art-and-thought-is-the-only/) [Edmund Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-wilson/) > [To me the most important thing in a piece of art is the thought. Technique is totally secondary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bateman/to-me-the-most-important-thing-in-a-piece-of-art-is-the-thought/) [Robert Bateman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bateman/) > [If you think about it enough to have a really articulate answer, you're not doing it right. That's how I feel about art. If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-clowes/if-you-think-about-it-enough-to-have-a-really-articulate-answer-you/) [Daniel Clowes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-clowes/) ## More by Camille Paglia > [A lesser complaint: hair extensions. There are moments on 'All My Children' when half the women actors, young and old, seem to be afflicted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/a-lesser-complaint-hair-extensions-there-are-moments-on-all-my/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [I cannot be convinced that great artists are moralists. Art is first appearances, then meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/i-cannot-be-convinced-that-great-artists-are-moralists-art-is-first/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [As a registered Democrat, I am praying for a credible presidential candidate to emerge from the younger tier of politicians in their late 40s.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/as-a-registered-democrat-i-am-praying-for-a-credible-presidential/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [Once you have become the centre of a conflict in a complex governmental enterprise you have the obligation to resign.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/once-you-have-become-the-centre-of-a-conflict-in-a-complex/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [I believe that government should confine itself to the public realm and that it should be as stripped down as possible, within reason. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/i-believe-that-government-should-confine-itself-to-the-public-realm/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [I'm a professor of media studies as well as humanities, and I'm an evangelist of popular culture, but when there's only media, then there's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/i-m-a-professor-of-media-studies-as-well-as-humanities-and-i-m-an/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [My stress on the truth in sexual stereotypes and on the biologic basis of sex differences is sure to cause controversy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/my-stress-on-the-truth-in-sexual-stereotypes-and-on-the-biologic/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [Are we like late Rome, infatuated with past glories, ruled by a complacent, greedy elite, and hopelessly powerless to respond to changing conditions?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/are-we-like-late-rome-infatuated-with-past-glories-ruled-by-a/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [Effeminate men have suffered a bad press the world over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/effeminate-men-have-suffered-a-bad-press-the-world-over/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [In the theory of gender I began from zero. There is no masculine power or privilege I did not covet. But slowly, step by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/in-the-theory-of-gender-i-began-from-zero-there-is-no-masculine-power/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [I respect the astute and rigorously unsentimental David Horowitz as one of America's most original and courageous political analysts. He has the true 1960s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/i-respect-the-astute-and-rigorously-unsentimental-david-horowitz-as/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [The followers of Derrida are pathetic, snuffling in French pockets for bits of pieces of a deconstructive method already massively and coherently presented and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/the-followers-of-derrida-are-pathetic-snuffling-in-french-pockets-for/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [Gay men are guardians of the masculine impulse. To have anonymous sex in a dark alleyway is to pay homage to the dream of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/gay-men-are-guardians-of-the-masculine-impulse-to-have-anonymous-sex/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [Lesbian feminists, for all their ideals of sisterhood and solidarity, can treat each other with a fickleness, a parasitic exploitativeness, and vicious spite that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/lesbian-feminists-for-all-their-ideals-of-sisterhood-and-solidarity/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [There is no true expertise in the humanities without knowing all of the humanities. Art is a vast, ancient interconnected web-work, a fabricated tradition.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/there-is-no-true-expertise-in-the-humanities-without-knowing-all-of/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) [Explore all 427 Camille Paglia quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) ## More Academia quotes > [“Word spread quickly: The visitor wished to address the scholars. 'What can he want?' they wondered, streaming into the Royal Theater. Attendance was voluntary,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laini-taylor/word-spread-quickly-the-visitor-wished-to-address-the-scholars-what/) [Laini Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laini-taylor/) > [Society understands the architecture of academia and knows there are relevant qualifications in different fields, and the media accepts the idea of specialisations and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-griffiths/society-understands-the-architecture-of-academia-and-knows-there-are/) [Jay Griffiths](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-griffiths/) > [One of the things that's great about New York is that it is not a one-industry town. It has education, academia, the service industry,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-jessica-parker/one-of-the-things-that-s-great-about-new-york-is-that-it-is-not-a-one/) [Sarah Jessica Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-jessica-parker/) > [ “See that the mind is honest, first; the rest may follow or not as God wills. \[That\] the fundamental treason to the mind ...… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-l-sayers/see-that-the-mind-is-honest-first-the-rest-may-follow-or-not-as-god/) [Dorothy L. Sayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-l-sayers/) > [The approach of intellect or noesis will forever be an effete and limited sort of thing by contrast with the vigor and color of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/the-approach-of-intellect-or-noesis-will-forever-be-an-effete-and/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [One can hardly appreciate how academia has perverted its highest tasks and "ideals" without pondering long and hard the implications of Jacques Barzun's House…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenny-smith/one-can-hardly-appreciate-how-academia-has-perverted-its-highest/) [Kenny Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenny-smith/) > [Practically everybody (1) overweighs the stuff that can be numbered, because it yields to the statistical techniques they’re taught in academia, and (2) doesn’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-munger/practically-everybody-1-overweighs-the-stuff-that-can-be-numbered/) [Charlie Munger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-munger/) > [Almost all scholarly research carries practical and political implications. Better that we should spell these out ourselves than leave that task to people with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-coontz/almost-all-scholarly-research-carries-practical-and-political/) [Stephanie Coontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-coontz/) > [There is this tremendous body of knowledge in the world of academia where extraordinary numbers of incredibly thoughtful people have taken the time to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-gladwell/there-is-this-tremendous-body-of-knowledge-in-the-world-of-academia/) [Malcolm Gladwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-gladwell/) > [What do you call a co-worker these days? Neither teammate nor confederate will do, and partner is too legalistic. The answer brought from academia…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-safire/what-do-you-call-a-co-worker-these-days-neither-teammate-nor/) [William Safire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-safire/) > [“Chivalry in academia is dead.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvain-reynard/chivalry-in-academia-is-dead/) [Sylvain Reynard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvain-reynard/) > [“The tunnel under the wall of intellectual snobbery is the only way back to common sense reality, but most won't find it because it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-e-navarro/the-tunnel-under-the-wall-of-intellectual-snobbery-is-the-only-way/) [D.E. Navarro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-e-navarro/) > [Even if 80 percent of the population of a country are Christian believers, they will have almost no cultural influence if the Christians do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-keller/even-if-80-percent-of-the-population-of-a-country-are-christian/) [Timothy Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-keller/) > [“(If you'd like to see it, I've been keeping a log of department meetings ranked according to level of trauma, with a 1 indicating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-schumacher-dear-committee-members/if-you-d-like-to-see-it-i-ve-been-keeping-a-log-of-department/) [Julie Schumacher Dear Committee Members](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-schumacher-dear-committee-members/) > [“On my first day in London I made an early start. Reaching the Public Record Office not much after ten, I soon secured the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-caudwell/on-my-first-day-in-london-i-made-an-early-start-reaching-the-public/) [Sarah Caudwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-caudwell/) [Browse all 233 Academia quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/academia/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The number one problem in academia today is not ignorant students but ignorant professors, who have substituted narrow \"expertise\" and \"theoretical sophistication\" (a preposterous term) for breadth and depth of learning in the world history of art and thought... Art is a vast, ancient interconnected web-work, a fabricated tradition. Overconcentration on any one point is a distortion. This is one of the primary reasons for the dullness and ineptitude of so much twentieth-criticism, as compared to nineteenth-century belles-lettres.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Camille Paglia" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/the-number-one-problem-in-academia-today-is-not-ignorant-students-but/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Academia" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/the-number-one-problem-in-academia-today-is-not-ignorant-students-but/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/548/camille-paglia-652_academia_the-number-one-problem-in-academia-today_108637.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/548/camille-paglia-652_academia_the-number-one-problem-in-academia-today_108637.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/548/camille-paglia-652_academia_the-number-one-problem-in-academia-today_108637.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The number one problem in academia today is not ignorant students but ignorant professors, who have…” — Camille Paglia", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Camille Paglia", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The number one problem in academia...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/the-number-one-problem-in-academia-today-is-not-ignorant-students-but/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/the-number-one-problem-in-academia-today-is-not-ignorant-students-but/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```