Clueless in Academe: How Schooling Obscures the Life of the Mind

320 Pages·2003·0.89 MB·English

by  Professor Gerald Graff

CLUELESS IN ACADEME

GERALD GRAFF
Clueless
Academe
I N
HOW SCHOOLING OBSCURES THE LIFE OF THE MIND
YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS NEW HAVEN AND LONDON
PublishedwithassistancefromthefoundationestablishedinmemoryofPhilipHamilton
McMillanoftheClassof1894,YaleCollege.
Copyright©2003byGeraldGraff.Allrightsreserved.Thisbookmaynotbereproduced,
inwholeorinpart,includingillustrations,inanyform(beyondthatcopyingpermittedby
Sections107and108oftheU.S.CopyrightLawandexceptbyreviewersforthepublicpress),
withoutwrittenpermissionfromthepublishers.
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SetinScalatypebyAchornGraphicServices.
PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica.
TheLibraryofCongresshascatalogedthehardcovereditionasfollows:
Graff,Gerald.
Cluelessinacademe:howschoolingobscuresthelifeofthemind/byGeraldGraff.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferences(p. )andindex.
ISBN0-300-09558-9(alk.paper)
1. Education, Higher—Social aspects—United States. 2. Learning and scholarship—
UnitedStates. I. Title.
LC191.94.G732003
306.43—dc21
2002151910
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
ThepaperinthisbookmeetstheguidelinesforpermanenceanddurabilityoftheCommittee
onProductionGuidelinesforBookLongevityoftheCouncilonLibraryResources.
ISBN0-300-10514-2
1098765432
CONTENTS
acknowledgments vii
introduction: IntheDarkAllEggheadsAreGray 1
PART I: CONFUSING THE ISSUE
1 TheUniversityIsPopularCulture,ButItDoesn’tKnowItYet 17
2 TheProblemProblemandOtherOdditiesofAcademic
Discourse 43
3 TheMixed-MessageCurriculum 62
PART II: INTELLECTUALISM AND ITS DISCONTENTS
4 TwoCheersfortheArgumentCulture 83
5 ParalysisbyAnalysis? 96
PART III: COMMUNICATIVE DISORDERS
6 UnlearningtoWrite 115
7 ScholarsandSoundBites:TheMythofAcademicDifficulty 134
8 WhyJohnnyCan’tArgue 155
9 OutingCriticism 173
10 TheApplicationGuessingGamewithAndrewHoberek 190
PART IV: TEACHING THE CLUB
11 HiddenIntellectualism 211
12 AWordforWordsandaVoteforQuotes 232
13 WrestlingwiththeDevil 246
14 DeborahMeier’sProgressiveTraditionalism 261
epilogue: HowtoWriteanArgument—WhatStudentsandTeachers
ReallyNeedtoKnow 275
notes 279
index 299
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I want to give special thanks to Steve Benton, my graduate assistant
for the past three years at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Steve
wentfarbeyondthecallofdutyinreadingmymanydraftsandprovid-
ing constant high-quality feedback, criticism, and encouragement. He
also took on much of the work of helping me prepare the manuscript
for the press. Some of the ideas and even the words and phrases in
this book are as much Steve’s as my own.
Two generous grants supported me in writing this book. The first
allowedmetospendafellowshipyearattheCenterforAdvancedStudy
in the Behavioral Sciences in California, where I began the book. The
second,fromtheSpencerFoundationofChicago,enabledmetofinish
it. I am grateful to these two organizations, without whose assistance
this book would have taken a lot longer to complete.
IamgratefultoRobertScholes,whoreadtwodifferentversionsof
mymanuscriptforYaleUniversityPressandofferedveryconstructive
advice on howto revise them. Theimportance tome ofBob’swork as
a model of how to write about the challenges of English teaching is
reflected in chapter 9.
Special thanksalso go to AndyHoberek, whoco-authored chapter
10 andwhose influence onmy thinking runs through the book. I also
vii
viii acknowledgments
wanttoextendspecialthankstomylongtimefriendandnowcolleague
and team-teaching partner, Jane Tompkins, whose ideas and writing
figure centrally in this book. Engaging with Jane’s work has been cru-
cial to me in forming my own ideas.
I also want to give special thanks to several people who supplied
mewithinformationabouttheircreativeteachingpracticesandkindly
gave me permission to quote them at length here: Jim Benton, Jack
Brereton, Hillel Crandus, Cathy Birkenstein-Graff, Donald Jones, and
Ned Laff.
Ialsowarmlythankthemanyfriendsandcolleagueswhoseconver-
sations on teaching and learning were instrumental in helping me
thinkoutwhatIwantedtosay:JenniferAshton,HowardBecker,Jerry
Bona, Wayne Booth, Jack Brereton, Marsha Cassidy, Candace Clem-
ents, Lennard Davis, Todd DeStigter, Kevin Dettmar, Ann Feldman,
Leon Fink, Stanley Fish, Mike Fischer, Bridget O’Rourke Flisk, Steve
Flisk,ChristopherFreeburg,HowardGardner,PattyHarkin,TadHow-
ard, Donald Jones, Steve Jones, Don Lazere, Jo Liebermann, Jo and
LarryLipking,MarkKrupnick,SteveMailloux,LarryMcEnerney,Char-
lie Newman, Bruce Novak, Karen Mann, Chris Messenger, Walter
Benn Michaels, Peter Michelson, Bill Rice, Jeff Rice, Bruce Robbins,
LarryRothfield,LanceRubin,CindySabik,DaveSchaafsma,LeeShul-
man, David Shumway, Herb Simons, Jim Sosnoski, Richard Strier,
Steve Tozer, Jeffrey Wallen, Michael Walsh, Jeff Williams, Ellen Win-
ner, Don Wink, Vershawn Young, and the late Tom Samet.
Mythankstothejournalsandjournaleditorswhokindlygave me
permissiontoreprintpartsofthisbookthattheypublishedindifferent
versions in articleform: Arts and Humanities in Higher Education, Col-
lege English, The Common Review, The Hedgehog Review, Pedagogy, and
PMLA.
IwantparticularlytothankJonathan Brent,myfriendandformer
co-director at the Northwestern University Press and editorial director
ofYaleUniversityPress.Jonathansolicitedthisbookandprovidedme
with a penetrating reading of an early draft. Thanks also to my manu-
script editor, Jeff Schier, who made many valuable suggestions and
eased me through the trauma of online copyediting.
Finally,Iexpressmyeternalthanksandlovetomywifeandcollab-
acknowledgments ix
orator, Cathy Birkenstein-Graff, who is writing a textbook with me—
A Short Guide to Argument—that will be a sequel and companion to
Clueless in Academe. Cathy read and commented on many drafts and
patiently talked me through trouble spots. Her patience, support, and
lovingguidancecontributedmuchmoretothisbookthanIcanexpress.