The College Fix

The first week in the National Association of Scholars’ new “Update the Classics: Add a PC Subtitle” contest offered plenty of chuckles at the politically correct’s expense.

The contest asks readers to add a politically correct subtitle to transform classic books “into something today’s sensitive yet resentful students can’t resist,” and the association chose Jane Austen novels as the first week’s target.

Many thanks to the 52 readers who submitted 70 ideas for politically correct subtitles to Jane Austen’s novels. The NAS staff selected this week’s winner and runners-up.

First place goes to Darel Veal for Sense and Sensitivity Training
Not technically a subtitle, but clever and succinct.

The runners-up, in no particular order, are
(Wo)Mansfield Park, submitted by Jordan Hill
Censor Sensibility, submitted by Jordan Hill
Personsfield Park: Local Theater as an Act of Subversion, submitted by Will Begley
Northanger Abbey: Anger is our True North, submitted by David Randall
Manspread Park – Combating Patriarchal Postures across England’s Quaint Garden Benches, submitted by Michael Brooks

It’s not too late to join in the fun:

This week’s assignment is any book by Charles Dickens. The university of the past, once the locus of high standards and great expectations, has now fallen on hard times, and is just a ghost of its former self. It’s becoming a bleak house of political activism, identity studies, and the spontaneous combustion of important books. To rescue Dickens from becoming just another knickknack in the old curiosity shop, and to poke a little fun at the idea that classics go stale, what #PCSubtitle would you propose for one of Dickens’ tomes?

Share your submissions on Twitter with the hashtag #PCSubtitle and the NAS Twitter handle @NASorg.

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