Bringing Truth Back To The Academic World

For all of the talk of "truth" in academics, there is still no Truth Studies department, in any university, anywhere. Let's change that.

The stamp of Truth is emblazoned across the emblems of major universities around the world. Top research institutions such as Harvard, The University of Michigan, Yale, and Brandeis espouse mottos such as "Truth", "Arts, Science, and Truth", "Light and Truth", and "Truth, Even Unto Its Innermost Parts". Indeed, Truth is a defining pillar of these universities' academic prowess.

Academic inquiry can be measured in terms of quality by its ability to strum the harp-chords of truth in a harmonious melody, by seeking and uncovering what is true and relevant and good, for the benefit of humankind.

The academic pursuit is a noble one, and has for hundreds of years moved human beings forward, further into the light, and deeper into a mindset of inquiring into the veracity of all things.

So therefore, given the pride with which the top universities in the world preach the notion of truth, why do none of the major universities actually study "Truth"?

Shockingly, there are exactly zero academic departments in major universities anywhere in the world that can be said to focus on "Truth Studies."

There are studies of Psychology, and Philosophy, and Physics, and all of these disciplines may for a brief moment scratch the surface regarding the timeless question "What Is True?"

And yet, the inquiry into "What Is True?" has always been contextual and therefore secondary to other academic disciplines. Never before have our esteemed and vital academic institutions, anywhere in the world, addressed the question of "What Is True?" head on, without context or filter.

How is it that these institutions of the light have neglected to answer perhaps the most important question any human being has ever asked? How could this possibly be so?

Indeed, there must be some reason for the seemingly systematic avoidance of this question in all academic institutions around the world, and in our culture.

There must be some motive that the only instance of "Truth Studies" on a major search engine's results refers to tongue-in-cheek infographics about culture from a major advertising agency.

The entire gradual procession of humanity into "enlightenment" - moving toward light, and away from darkness - has been centered around the notion that challenging questions can be answered with rigorous, intentional discipline and deep, sincere interest. Indeed, the halls of academia were built for this express purpose.

So it is therefore shocking, strange, and most curiously interesting that not a single university in the world has thought the topic of Truth important enough to merit an academic department dedicated solely to the task of uncovering the Truth.

I envision a Truth Studies department in every major university throughout the world. Such a Truth Studies department would be cross-disciplinary, with courses that span the major academic disciplines, including Philosophy, Sociology, Psychology, Mathematics, Physics, Creative Writing, Religious Studies, History, American Studies, Political Science, Eastern Studies, and more.

I envision a Truth Studies department with undergraduate and graduate students enrolling in courses such as:

• Introduction To Truth

• The Philosophy of Truth

• The Science of Truth

• The Scientific Process of Truth Realization

• Empirical Truth

• Truth and Quantum Mechanics

• Truth of Religious Texts

• The History of Truth In America

• The Global History of Truth Seeking

• The Sociology of Truth

• The Psychology of the Breakout Archetype (400 level)

• The Psychology of Truth Realization

• Truth In The Political Context

• Truth: Advanced Strategies of Consciousness

• Truth In American Culture

• The End of Falsehood

• Truth In Mathematics

• Truth In The Medieval Ages

• Truth In Literature

• Truth And Consciousness

• Truth And The Nature of Existence

• Truth In The Cosmos

• What Is The Ultimate Truth?

• Truth in Free Enterprise

• The Role of Truth in the American Civil Rights Movement

• Truth in Arts & Culture

And most of all, I envision the brightest people from all around the world tasking themselves to answering the question of "What Is True?" in a serious, rigorous and academic context that will allow for a full inquiry into the nature of Truth - indeed, perhaps the single most important building block of the university system itself.

When I graduated from university in 2009, I earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Spanish.

But when my children graduate from college, I want them to have the option to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in Truth.

There is no more important human inquiry than a sincere inquiry into the nature of Truth.

The question "What Is True?" has been asked by human beings since the beginning of mankind, and yet while no legitimate answer has emerged, the academic inquiry into the nature of this question and its answer has not yet been attempted. Instead, it has been systematically avoided.

Perhaps human beings simply had blinders over their eyes, too enraptured with petty ego-driven games to realize that they were missing the single most important question that a human being could ask.

On a personal note, I have come to believe that the nature of consciousness is to go into the light. I do not know what "enlightenment" means to you, but it seems that any truly "enlightened" person must be fully and completely truth-realized. If not, then they would be untruth-realized. In other words, deluded. And for some reason, "deluded" and "enlightened" just don't go well together in the same description.

I call on all major universities around the country to begin to develop full, department-level academic programs in Truth Studies. To begin giving university students the ability to fully explore the question of "What Is True?" all the way to its as-yet unknown conclusion. And, to finally live out their creed - Truth, Even Unto Its Innermost Parts.