Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2015/07/13/university-of-toronto-upholds.html
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In a statement from the UofT provost, they said they weren’t going to be teaching the course next year.
http://www.provost.utoronto.ca/office/Provostial_Statements/July72015.htm
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Okay, the rest of the list I can see, but what’s with slipping chiropracty into it? Yeah, I know some chiropractors overstate effectiveness, but I also know GPs who overstate the effectiveness of conventional medicine (or just plain give out misinformation). That doesn’t change the actual efficacy of the medicine or the treatments themselves.
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While I do think that the sociology dept should be free to offer a “stupid shit white people believe in” course, there should be a big red disclaimer in the syllabus that this course is not science a medical one…
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Well, it’s taught offered in the anthropology department (because reasons?) - so it’s not actually a science or medical course.
Do you mean the “trying to cure back-pain” variety (which apparently has some evidence to support it), or the more woo-infused “trying to cure everything” variety?
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Strictly the “fix your back” variety – I wouldn’t be able to type this sentence without that kind of chiropracty. The rest, meh, but as I alluded to in the previous post, there are conventional doctors who do questionable things as well. Just ask any woman who’s been in an exam room, doubled over in pain, and assured it’s “all in her head”.
Sadly, idiots get into even the most laudable of professions.
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Anthropology, sociology…you can’t really expect me to keep track of the distinctions between squishy “sciences” can you?../snark
They’re certainly disciplines, often of interest, but I don’t think that they really qualify as science…
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Don´t miss my course on string therapy coming up next month.
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Is that quantum string therapy or the spaghetti kind? Either way, I’d like to subscribe to your newsletter.
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May his Noodly appendages heal you Child.
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…and this is a university with a major medical school. <sigh>
I’d say the old McGill - U of T rivalry has tipped rather decisively in McGill’s favour.
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It´s the quantum kind (much more effective on warts and ulcers) but spaghetti are likely to be spilled at some point during the presentation.
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So a little bit of chaos theory too. Will there be an aldente speghettum sliding down the back of a mathematician’s hand? If so, I’m sold.
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It would be interesting to see if they will also stop teaching another pseudoscience course.
Human Biology has HMB434H - Complementary and Alternative Medicine, a course which provides an enthusiastic platform for a host of quacks, including naturopaths. The program is at http://www.hmb.utoronto.ca/index.php?q=node/35
U of T needs to seriously weed out its offerings.
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Sugar pills are an alternative to vaccines.
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This is the market in action. There are people who want to learn woo and people willing to teach it. The course is likely to be total bullshit, but cheap to produce - no practicals, no teaching with actual medicine or dissecting cadavers, etc, great for the bottom line of UofT - why not let the credulous subsidise real education for the rest of the campus?
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This kind?
I heard it can be pretty efficient for all of one’s problems…
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