I could have answered the question in a different way. I could have said, “You’re reading these books because they teach you things about the world and yourself that, if you do not learn them in college, you are unlikely to learn anywhere else.” This reflects a different theory of college, a theory that runs like this: In a society that encourages its members to pursue the career paths that promise the greatest personal or financial rewards, people will, given a choice, learn only what they need to know for success. They will have no incentive to acquire the knowledge and skills important for life as an informed citizen, or as a reflective and culturally literate human being. College exposes future citizens to material that enlightens and empowers them, whatever careers they end up choosing.
The theory of university as a sort of indoctrination, and the encounters that students have with knowledge is planned around a number of challenging situations or topics or ideas. Frye said that all learning involves overcoming personal barriers, and this idea of education is about this type of barrier-encountering. The point is that it will not be pleasant or fun--at least some of the time--some of the time it will be exactly what the student does not want. Other times it will be exciting and even blissful.
