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Disengaged Students, Part 6: What Happened to Political Discourse?

In this 20-part series, I explore the root causes and effects of academic disengagement in K-12 learners and explore the factors driving American society ever closer to being a nation that lacks intellectualism, or the pursuit of knowledge for knowledge’s sake. While the anti-intellectual mindset is deeply entrenched in American culture, it is seldom discussed. Those who accuse the popular culture of ‘dumbness’ are viewed as offensive and even elitist. Those who say that they find Americans less cultured or intelligent than citizens of other nations are convicted of unpatriotic behavior in the court of public opinion. As a result, …

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Disengaged Students, Part 5: What the Intellectual Experts Say

In this 20-part series, I explore the root causes and effects of academic disengagement in K-12 learners and explore the factors driving American society ever closer to being a nation that lacks intellectualism, or the pursuit of knowledge for knowledge’s sake. The two authors best known for addressing contemporary anti-intellectualism are Leonard Woolf and Richard Hofstadter. Woolf’s 1935 book Quack, Quack! looks, in part, at how governments and religions contribute to anti-intellectualism. He speaks specifically of his own opposition to fascist regimes like those of Benito Mussolini and Adolph Hitler, and talks about how Fascist rule is set up like …

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Disengaged Students, Part 4: The Evolution of Anti-Intellectualism

In this 20-part series, I explore the root causes and effects of academic disengagement in K-12 learners and explore the factors driving American society ever closer to being a nation that lacks intellectualism, or the pursuit of knowledge for knowledge’s sake. The tendency to view scientific fact as merely one theory in a great sea of possible understandings is deeply ingrained in Americans.  This tendency has been deliberately fostered. Since the nation’s founding, people in authoritative positions have periodically managed to convince citizens that actual science is subjective and on the same plane as other unproven theories. While, the term …

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Disengaged Students, Part 3: The Role of Nationalism

In this 20-part series, I explore the root causes and effects of academic disengagement in K-12 learners and explore the factors driving American society ever closer to being a nation that lacks intellectualism, or the pursuit of knowledge for knowledge’s sake. The 20th century saw the rise of a new sort of anti-intellectualism in America, one stemming from a nationalist perspective. The idea that love of country trumped all other ideas and ideals was popularized during both World Wars, and exacerbated by the Communist paranoia and McCarthyism in the decades that followed. Speaking out against war or showing sympathy with …

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Disengaged Students, Part 2: The Anti-Intellectualism of Thomas Jefferson

In this 20-part series, I explore the root causes and effects of academic disengagement in K-12 learners and explore the factors driving American society ever closer to being a nation that lacks intellectualism, or the pursuit of knowledge for knowledge’s sake. It is easy to blame the rise of anti-intellectualism on the vagaries of the digital age, but in fact anti-intellectualism has been present in America from the beginning of our national history, and its roots lie in other civilizations. The Roman Republic had anti-intellectual overtones, particularly when it came to assimilation of new cultures. Roman culture was seen as …

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Disengaged Students, Part 1: How did American Anti-Intellectualism Begin?

In this 20-part series, I explore the root causes and effects of academic disengagement in K-12 learners and explore the factors driving American society ever closer to being a nation that lacks intellectualism, or the pursuit of knowledge for knowledge’s sake. Americans pride themselves on their high ideals. On national holidays Americans delight in quoting phrases like “all men are created equal” and “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” The ideologies of freedom of religion, democratic government, and socio-economic mobility are ingrained in American children beginning in pre-K educational settings. While these ideologies are admired from a distance, real …

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