Anti-Intellectualism at College Universities
Anti-Intellectualism at College Universities
Education once existed as something very valuable, and something that only the very wealthy obtained. You were considered lucky to have the opportunity of getting an education, and not many took it for granted. Today, nearly everybody receives an education of some degree, and things have definitely changed. Students simply get educations because they are expected to or are required to. As the years have progressed, less and less students actually enjoy their education. You get labeled by many other students as weird or a freak if you enjoy learning. These kinds of ideas have led to and continue to lead to many problems relating to anti-intellectualism. Student’s anti-intellectualism has been increasing throughout the years, especially at college universities. This is a major problem because the trend is spreading around that it isn’t cool to put forth an effort or to enjoy your classes. Many college professors are very concerned that every year students have less and less motivation and are just attending college because they want a high paying salary after college. One English professor from the East coast said "most students nowadays are reluctant to learn and to think and resent being awakened from their stupor. I shudder when I consider the future of this country” (Trout). It scares a lot of people that this enormous group of unmotivated students is to someday be in charge of the country. The future of American society is at risk because of anti-intellectual ideas that are passed onto students because of the idea of wanting to be “cool”, students just going to college to make more money later, and university expectations decreasing because money has became the main priority rather than education. Firstly, the understanding of what an intellectual is has to be clear. According to Richard Hofstadter, who is a very famous American historian, he considers an intellectual someone who lives for ideas instead of
Education once existed as something very valuable, and something that only the very wealthy obtained. You were considered lucky to have the opportunity of getting an education, and not many took it for granted. Today, nearly everybody receives an education of some degree, and things have definitely changed. Students simply get educations because they are expected to or are required to. As the years have progressed, less and less students actually enjoy their education. You get labeled by many other students as weird or a freak if you enjoy learning. These kinds of ideas have led to and continue to lead to many problems relating to anti-intellectualism. Student’s anti-intellectualism has been increasing throughout the years, especially at college universities. This is a major problem because the trend is spreading around that it isn’t cool to put forth an effort or to enjoy your classes. Many college professors are very concerned that every year students have less and less motivation and are just attending college because they want a high paying salary after college. One English professor from the East coast said "most students nowadays are reluctant to learn and to think and resent being awakened from their stupor. I shudder when I consider the future of this country” (Trout). It scares a lot of people that this enormous group of unmotivated students is to someday be in charge of the country. The future of American society is at risk because of anti-intellectual ideas that are passed onto students because of the idea of wanting to be “cool”, students just going to college to make more money later, and university expectations decreasing because money has became the main priority rather than education. Firstly, the understanding of what an intellectual is has to be clear. According to Richard Hofstadter, who is a very famous American historian, he considers an intellectual someone who lives for ideas instead of
Cited: Bradbury, Kelly Susan. The Gump Slumb: Challenging Anti-Intellectualism In The College Composition Classroom. Omaha: Houchen, 2002. Print. Jacoby, Susan. “The Dumbing Of America; Call Me a Snob, but Really, We 're a Nation of Dunces.” 2008. LexisNexis. Web. 9 Dec. 2009. Keller, Michael. Reading Popular Culture 2nd Ed. Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company, 2008. Print. Edmundson, Mark. “On the Uses of a Liberal Education: As Lite entertainment for Bored College Students.” Keller 287-300. Print. Hofstadter, Richard. “Democracy and Anti-Intellectualism in America.” Keller 257-274. Print. Olson, Joseph. “The Causes of Anti-Intellectualism.” Professor Olson @ Large. Wordpress. 2009. Web. 4 Dec. 2009. Trout, Paul. “Student Anti-Intellectualism and the Dumbing Down of the University.” N.p. n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2009.