Articles to pair with Graff's "Hidden Intellectualism"?
July 21, 2010 8:48 AM Subscribe
Should college students be reading essays about video games or should they be assigned John Stuart Mill? I'm looking for readings to pair with Gerald Graff's article "Hidden Intellectualism."
I'm going to be teaching Graff's essay to a class of freshmen and am looking for an article that would pair well with it - either by extending his argument in any interesting way or presenting a counterclaim.
Graff basically argues that colleges should do more to engage with students' non-academic interests ("cars, dating, clothing fashions, sports, TV, or video games"). If handled analytically, these topics can be an excellent entry into academic and intellectual modes of thinking.
Can you think of an author who argues, say, for a strictly classical curriculum or feels that pop culture content is watering down the college curriculum? Or maybe even someone who agrees with Graff, but puts a different spin on his claim?
I'm drawing a blank here...
Thanks in advance for any help!
I'm going to be teaching Graff's essay to a class of freshmen and am looking for an article that would pair well with it - either by extending his argument in any interesting way or presenting a counterclaim.
Graff basically argues that colleges should do more to engage with students' non-academic interests ("cars, dating, clothing fashions, sports, TV, or video games"). If handled analytically, these topics can be an excellent entry into academic and intellectual modes of thinking.
Can you think of an author who argues, say, for a strictly classical curriculum or feels that pop culture content is watering down the college curriculum? Or maybe even someone who agrees with Graff, but puts a different spin on his claim?
I'm drawing a blank here...
Thanks in advance for any help!
It depends on the goal of the class. Are you looking to introduce your students to a field, such as economics? Is this article meant to be a gateway to something unfamiliar, or is it meant to defamiliarize a freshman's world? Are you trying to get them to use college courses to think critically about their expectations and pleasures?
This is something to which you might look to the education library at your school for help-- books like Making the Most of College might help you settle on some goals for this class, and make these kind of decisions a little easier.
posted by pickypicky at 9:07 AM on July 21, 2010
This is something to which you might look to the education library at your school for help-- books like Making the Most of College might help you settle on some goals for this class, and make these kind of decisions a little easier.
posted by pickypicky at 9:07 AM on July 21, 2010
Best answer: There are versions of this:
http://www.dumbestgeneration.com/
by Mark Bauerlein, an English prof at Emory, that you might use to stir the pot in relation to Graff.
Graff's probably got the stronger argument overall, but depending on where you teach, your students may be initially drawn to either author's position, which makes teaching the principles of academic argument and debate a bit easier (I'm assuming that's probably one of the learning outcomes for your course).
posted by 5Q7 at 9:54 AM on July 21, 2010
http://www.dumbestgeneration.com/
by Mark Bauerlein, an English prof at Emory, that you might use to stir the pot in relation to Graff.
Graff's probably got the stronger argument overall, but depending on where you teach, your students may be initially drawn to either author's position, which makes teaching the principles of academic argument and debate a bit easier (I'm assuming that's probably one of the learning outcomes for your course).
posted by 5Q7 at 9:54 AM on July 21, 2010
Should college students be reading essays about video games or should they be assigned John Stuart Mill?
I think a hybrid approach is a good idea, instead of choosing one or the other. You have the benefit of making something obscure more relevant by pairing it with something that may be a bit more contemporary; and you also have the benefit of increasing the likelihood that your students will at least read something that they can hang onto during the class discussion when 80% of the class inevitably does not read the harder material. Also, if they have something they enjoy that makes it a bit more relevant, it may increase the chances that students will read the harder material. This sounds a bit cynical, but it's the reality of a lot of freshman courses.
Another way to look at it is that there is almost always a section of the class that does take the material seriously and will read John Stuart Mill, and you can consider yourself primarily teaching to those people who take it seriously. I'm often conflicted on not wanting to dumb down the material, simply because some students aren't prepared for it. However, there's also the fact that as a teacher, you may want give and take of good discussion to create a good teaching environment, at which point you might want to consider my first suggestion above. And again, I don't think there's anything wrong with including lighter material, as long as it doesn't compromise the more challenging stuff.
posted by SpacemanStix at 10:01 AM on July 21, 2010
I think a hybrid approach is a good idea, instead of choosing one or the other. You have the benefit of making something obscure more relevant by pairing it with something that may be a bit more contemporary; and you also have the benefit of increasing the likelihood that your students will at least read something that they can hang onto during the class discussion when 80% of the class inevitably does not read the harder material. Also, if they have something they enjoy that makes it a bit more relevant, it may increase the chances that students will read the harder material. This sounds a bit cynical, but it's the reality of a lot of freshman courses.
Another way to look at it is that there is almost always a section of the class that does take the material seriously and will read John Stuart Mill, and you can consider yourself primarily teaching to those people who take it seriously. I'm often conflicted on not wanting to dumb down the material, simply because some students aren't prepared for it. However, there's also the fact that as a teacher, you may want give and take of good discussion to create a good teaching environment, at which point you might want to consider my first suggestion above. And again, I don't think there's anything wrong with including lighter material, as long as it doesn't compromise the more challenging stuff.
posted by SpacemanStix at 10:01 AM on July 21, 2010
Best answer: It's an oldie, but you might still try Mark Edmunson's 1997 essay from Harper's, "On the Uses of a Liberal Education."
posted by washburn at 10:04 AM on July 21, 2010
posted by washburn at 10:04 AM on July 21, 2010
Sorry, I think I missed the main gist of your question.
posted by SpacemanStix at 10:12 AM on July 21, 2010
posted by SpacemanStix at 10:12 AM on July 21, 2010
Best answer: Frank Furedi's book "Where have the intellectuals gone?" has a chapter called "The culture of flattery" which deals with the issue in a broader perspective - what is the educational system mission after all and criticizes the right to "recognition" and the dumbing down that comes with wider inclusion. A quote: "The demand that universities adapt to the student inexorably leads to the lowering of expectations." He is not naming what should the universities be teaching but he rants a lot against the cultural relativism that makes the student's subjective experiences valid...
posted by lucia__is__dada at 11:22 AM on July 21, 2010
posted by lucia__is__dada at 11:22 AM on July 21, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks so much, guys. I'm very impressed.
posted by cymru_j at 12:45 PM on July 21, 2010
posted by cymru_j at 12:45 PM on July 21, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by If only I had a penguin... at 8:58 AM on July 21, 2010