--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Academic culture is not merely…" description: "\"Academic culture is not merely indifferent to teaching, it is actively hostile to it.\" — Charlie Sykes" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/212/charlie-sykes-9529_culture_academic-culture-is-not-merely-indiffere_3018165.jpg" --- # Academic culture is not merely indifferent to teaching, it… ![“Academic culture is not merely indifferent to teaching, it is actively hostile to it.” quote by Charlie Sykes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/212/charlie-sykes-9529_culture_academic-culture-is-not-merely-indiffere_3018165.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/212/charlie-sykes-9529_culture_academic-culture-is-not-merely-indiffere_3018165.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/212/charlie-sykes-9529_culture_academic-culture-is-not-merely-indiffere_3018165.jpg) > “Academic culture is not merely indifferent to teaching, it is actively hostile to it.” [Charlie Sykes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-sykes/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Academic culture often actively opposes teaching rather than being neutral. **In simple terms:** Academia can be hostile to teaching. Key Takeaway Advocate for teaching within academia. Themes education academia hostility culture Mood critical concerned Type analytical activist When to use this quote - higher education - policy critique Key Concepts faculty policies curriculum design student engagement Questions to Reflect On - Why is teaching devalued? - How to change the culture? A Different Perspective May overlook supportive institutions. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Teaching](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teaching/) ## Related quotes > [“The universe is not indifferent. It is actively hostile.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-pressfield/the-universe-is-not-indifferent-it-is-actively-hostile/) [Steven Pressfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-pressfield/) > [If we want to grow as teachers -- we must do something alien to academic culture: we must talk to each other about our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/parker-j-palmer/if-we-want-to-grow-as-teachers-we-must-do-something-alien-to-academic/) [Parker J. Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/parker-j-palmer/) > [The film culture has no room for ideas. The literary culture has some room, but not less than they should, and the academic culture…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-linklater/the-film-culture-has-no-room-for-ideas-the-literary-culture-has-some/) [Richard Linklater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-linklater/) > [Im good at getting information and synthesizing it. Its not that I doubt myself on that. Its, do you have the Ph.D. first-class brain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katty-kay/im-good-at-getting-information-and-synthesizing-it-its-not-that-i/) [Katty Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katty-kay/) > [I look at Google and think they have a strong academic culture. Elegant solutions to complex problems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-zuckerberg/i-look-at-google-and-think-they-have-a-strong-academic-culture/) [Mark Zuckerberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-zuckerberg/) > [“the “you can’t make me do it” academic culture.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leslie-berlin/the-you-can-t-make-me-do-it-academic-culture/) [Leslie Berlin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leslie-berlin/) > [“Instead of telling our valuable stories, we seek safety in abstractions, speaking to each other about our opinions, ideas, and beliefs rather than about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/parker-palmer/instead-of-telling-our-valuable-stories-we-seek-safety-in/) [Parker Palmer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/parker-palmer/) > [The universe is not indifferent to intelligence, it is actively hostile to it. Love thy neighbor as yourself, but choose your neighborhood.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louise-lester/the-universe-is-not-indifferent-to-intelligence-it-is-actively/) Louise Lester > [The universe seems neither benign nor hostile, merely indifferent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/the-universe-seems-neither-benign-nor-hostile-merely-indifferent/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [One response was given by the innkeeper when Mary and Joseph wanted to find a room where the Child could be born. 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But it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-ponder/it-is-easy-to-speak-words-of-love-or-to-meditate-lovingly-upon-those/) [Catherine Ponder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-ponder/) > [Dominion is a spy novel, a love story, and also I hope gives some sense of the difficulties faced by dissidents under any totalitarian…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-j-sansom/dominion-is-a-spy-novel-a-love-story-and-also-i-hope-gives-some-sense/) [C.J. Sansom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-j-sansom/) > [The most fundamental question we can ever ask ourselves is whether or not the universe we live in is friendly or hostile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/the-most-fundamental-question-we-can-ever-ask-ourselves-is-whether-or/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [I receive something we might euphemistically call an 'inappropriately hostile' response - that is to say, more than fair criticism or even fair anger…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-beard/i-receive-something-we-might-euphemistically-call-an-inappropriately/) [Mary Beard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-beard/) ## More by Charlie Sykes > [Mr. Trump understands that attacking the media is the reddest of meat for his base, which has been conditioned to reject reporting from news…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-sykes/mr-trump-understands-that-attacking-the-media-is-the-reddest-of-meat/) [Charlie Sykes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-sykes/) > [Nothing annoys academics more than pointing out how little time they actually spend teaching students.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-sykes/nothing-annoys-academics-more-than-pointing-out-how-little-time-they/) [Charlie Sykes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-sykes/) > [In 2008, conservatives ridiculed the Left for its adulation of Barack Obama, only to succumb to their own cult of personality eight years later.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-sykes/in-2008-conservatives-ridiculed-the-left-for-its-adulation-of-barack/) [Charlie Sykes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-sykes/) > [It turns out that many of the Trump voters who had said they wanted to burn it all down meant it, and they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-sykes/it-turns-out-that-many-of-the-trump-voters-who-had-said-they-wanted/) [Charlie Sykes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-sykes/) > [In 2010, conservatives won big majorities in the Wisconsin State Legislature, and I openly supported many of their reforms, including changes to collective bargaining…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-sykes/in-2010-conservatives-won-big-majorities-in-the-wisconsin-state/) [Charlie Sykes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-sykes/) > [There was a time when the Republican Party could discuss possible reforms to our gun laws: Ronald Reagan himself endorsed the Brady Bill and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-sykes/there-was-a-time-when-the-republican-party-could-discuss-possible/) [Charlie Sykes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-sykes/) > [I tried to distinguish myself from the Rush Limbaughs of the world, but I also understood that there were folks on the Left who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-sykes/i-tried-to-distinguish-myself-from-the-rush-limbaughs-of-the-world/) [Charlie Sykes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-sykes/) > [Congress is a co-equal branch of government, with a long and rich history of standing up to the executive branch.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-sykes/congress-is-a-co-equal-branch-of-government-with-a-long-and-rich/) [Charlie Sykes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-sykes/) > [I have a confession to make. When I was a child, I was a chronic, repeat doodler.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-sykes/i-have-a-confession-to-make-when-i-was-a-child-i-was-a-chronic-repeat/) [Charlie Sykes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-sykes/) > [Unless you have experienced it, it's difficult to describe the virulence of the Twitter storms that were unleashed on Trump skeptics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-sykes/unless-you-have-experienced-it-it-s-difficult-to-describe-the/) [Charlie Sykes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-sykes/) > [Conservatives spent an awful long time ignoring things: the birthers, the bigots, the xenophobes, the alternative-reality media. We had assumed that they were postcards…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-sykes/conservatives-spent-an-awful-long-time-ignoring-things-the-birthers/) [Charlie Sykes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-sykes/) > [There was always the paranoid strain in American politics, particularly on the Right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-sykes/there-was-always-the-paranoid-strain-in-american-politics/) [Charlie Sykes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-sykes/) > [In the modern university, no act of good teaching goes unpunished.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-sykes/in-the-modern-university-no-act-of-good-teaching-goes-unpunished/) [Charlie Sykes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-sykes/) > [I have long admired Paul Ryan and thought of him as the future of the Republican Party.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-sykes/i-have-long-admired-paul-ryan-and-thought-of-him-as-the-future-of-the/) [Charlie Sykes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-sykes/) > [Across the country, universities that had abandoned in loco parentis in the 1960s because it was too oppressive and intrusive have replaced it with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-sykes/across-the-country-universities-that-had-abandoned-in-loco-parentis/) [Charlie Sykes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-sykes/) [Explore all 72 Charlie Sykes quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-sykes/) ## More Culture quotes > [What sets worlds in motion is the interplay of differences, their attractions and repulsions. Life is plurality, death is uniformity. By suppressing differences and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octavio-paz/what-sets-worlds-in-motion-is-the-interplay-of-differences-their/) [Octavio Paz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octavio-paz/) > [Philosopher is a dictator who modifies accepted standards with his thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ilkin-santak/philosopher-is-a-dictator-who-modifies-accepted-standards-with-his/) [Ilkin Santak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ilkin-santak/) > [A lot of indigenous cultures are deeply involved in working with ancestor spirits, elemental spirits, and demons. Many of these cultures feel that, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-pinchbeck/a-lot-of-indigenous-cultures-are-deeply-involved-in-working-with/) [Daniel Pinchbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-pinchbeck/) > [In the hearing world, I'm constantly having to lip-read and trying to understand what's going on. Sign language is so beautiful. 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And before a scab forms it hemorrhages…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-e-anzald-a/the-u-s-mexican-border-es-un-herida-abierta-where-the-third-world/) [Gloria E. Anzaldúa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-e-anzald-a/) > [What it comes down to for me is this: Will the technologies of communication in our culture, serve to enlighten us and help us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-waters/what-it-comes-down-to-for-me-is-this-will-the-technologies-of/) [Roger Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-waters/) > [I think it's useful to experience other types of dance and other cultures, and the life of a classical dancer these days is certainly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-bull/i-think-it-s-useful-to-experience-other-types-of-dance-and-other/) [Deborah Bull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-bull/) > [In the movie, the stars above the ship bear no correspondence to any constellations in a real sky. Worse yet, while the heroine bobs...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/in-the-movie-the-stars-above-the-ship-bear-no-correspondence-to-any/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [It is not my intention to explain Turkey, its culture and its problems. My literature has a universal concern: I want to bring people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orhan-pamuk/it-is-not-my-intention-to-explain-turkey-its-culture-and-its-problems/) [Orhan Pamuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orhan-pamuk/) > [I don't think the distinction between high and low culture exists anymore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeremy-scott/i-don-t-think-the-distinction-between-high-and-low-culture-exists/) [Jeremy Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeremy-scott/) > [You get below the Mason-Dixon line and you have some of the best music, culture, the two races, the literature, and it's so rich.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-duvall/you-get-below-the-mason-dixon-line-and-you-have-some-of-the-best/) [Robert Duvall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-duvall/) > [It is proposed that a form of free dialogue may well be one of the most effective ways of investigating the crisis which faces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bohm/it-is-proposed-that-a-form-of-free-dialogue-may-well-be-one-of-the/) [David Bohm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bohm/) > [“Being grounded in your lifelong culture and your personal perspective, you are comfortable with the way you see things and may believe it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-c-young/being-grounded-in-your-lifelong-culture-and-your-personal-perspective/) [Susan C. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-c-young/) [Browse all 15,940 Culture quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Academic culture is not merely indifferent to teaching, it is actively hostile to it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charlie Sykes" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-sykes/academic-culture-is-not-merely-indifferent-to-teaching-it-is-actively/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Culture" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-sykes/academic-culture-is-not-merely-indifferent-to-teaching-it-is-actively/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/212/charlie-sykes-9529_culture_academic-culture-is-not-merely-indiffere_3018165.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/212/charlie-sykes-9529_culture_academic-culture-is-not-merely-indiffere_3018165.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/212/charlie-sykes-9529_culture_academic-culture-is-not-merely-indiffere_3018165.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Academic culture is not merely indifferent to teaching, it is actively hostile to it.” — Charlie Sykes", "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": "Charlie Sykes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlie-sykes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Academic culture is not merely indifferent...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-sykes/academic-culture-is-not-merely-indifferent-to-teaching-it-is-actively/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlie-sykes/academic-culture-is-not-merely-indifferent-to-teaching-it-is-actively/#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 } } ] } ```