The Modern Language Association has been meeting in Philadelphia this week. “Founded in 1883, the association was little noticed until the 1980s, when teachers of trendy new disciplines – African American studies, women’s studies, queer theory – challenged traditional scholarship and brought the ‘culture war’ into the ivory tower. Ever since, the group has been criticized for pushing the envelope too far, for being too leftist, too socialist, too orthodox, for generating reams of scholarly papers with little practical application. There’s a reason it tilts progressive: Humanities professors tend to be liberal and to push at boundaries. Conservatives and libertarians are more likely to go into business administration, economics and the law.”