Despite the wealth of information that can be found on the Internet’s Super Highway, author Mark Bauerlein says today’s generation is less informed and less literate than any that has preceded it. This best-selling author will discuss his premise at a program at Augusta State on Tuesday, Oct. 20, at 2:30 p.m. in 170 University Hall.
In his 2008 book, The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes our Future, Dr. Bauerlein discusses why you “don’t trust anyone under 30.” A professor of English at Emory University, he says that this generation uses the Internet as a communications tool—not a learning tool—and that social media sites, email, and text messaging encourages illiteracy by making its own peculiar spelling, grammar, and punctuation socially acceptable. He says that the “more skilled kids become in using the tools of the digital revolution, the more ignorant they become about the world around them.” He called it a “famine of intelligence” in one newspaper interview.
Dr. Bauerlein’s scholarly work has appeared in numerous publications, and his popular book has been featured on news networks and public broadcast stations as well as traditional and online media. He has been interviewed on CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, CNN Headline News, Frontline, NPR, and by the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and others.
He has taught at Emory since 1989, with a break from 2003-2005 to serve as director of Research, Office of Research and Analysis, at the National Endowment for the Arts where he oversaw studies on culture and American life. He earned his doctorate in English at UCLA in 1988.
The author’s program is being jointly sponsored by the Academy for Learning and Teaching and the university’s chapter of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi as part of its annual Arsenal Speaker Series. According to Dr. Jim Grayson, PKP president, “We are always excited to introduce new topics to students that will challenge their thinking. Having the ability to comprehend something new is what education is all about.”
For more information about Dr. Bauerlein, including a video interview, articles, and news interview, link to www.dumbestgeneration.com\ For more information about his presentation at Augusta State, contact the Office of Public Relations and Publications at 706-737-1444.
Sep 30, 2009
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