In the present humanities educational scene, whole areas have become little more than the celebration of simulacra. According to this author, it is obvious that, despite all of the references to texts and linguistics made by its practitioners, what deconstructionism really does is formalize criticism as criticism. In its final analysis, conventional "content" no longer exists; it is merely a trace of the signifiers which are, after all, sounds or marks. This has had the surprisingly pernicious effect of disallowing the possibility of truth in history. It is true that history must always serve as a kind of explanation, and to that extent, historians invariably express the biases of their culture--even if in a way antagonistic to it. Studio arts have become a conventional university discipline, but there are hundreds of programs (for example, "queer theory" and "herstory) in which students are, in effect, pre-selected enthusiasts of some regnant fad. The author contends that the narrow provincialism of such studies distances students from the educational principle of liberal education. He concludes that administrators and certification bodies need to examine with great attention the roles that fad and fashion play in today's curricula, and to approach every enthusiasm with reserve and circumspection. (Contains 31 notes.)