Clueless in academe : how schooling obscures the life of the mind / by Gerald Graff.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: In the Dark All Eggheads Are Gray -- Confusing the Issue -- The University Is Popular Culture, But It Doesn't Know It Yet -- The Problem Problem and Other Oddities of Academic Discourse -- The Mixed-Message Curriculum -- Intellectualism and Its Discontents -- Two Cheers for the Argument Culture -- Paralysis by Analysis? -- Communicative Disorders -- Unlearning to Write -- Scholars and Sound Bites: The Myth of Academic Difficulty -- Why Johnny Can't Argue -- Outing Criticism -- The Application Guessing Game with Andrew Hoberek -- Teaching the Club -- Hidden Intellectualism -- A Word for Words and a Vote for Quotes -- Wrestling with the Devil -- Deborah Meier's Progressive Traditionalism -- Epilogue: How to Write an Argument--What Students and Teachers Really Need to Know.

In an essential book for teachers and others interested in education, an eminent scholar looks at the academic world from a much-overlooked perspective: that of students who don't get it. Gerald Graff argues that our schools and colleges make the intellectual life seem more opaque. specialized, and beyond normal learning capacities than it is or needs to be. Left clueless in the academic world, many students view the life of the mind as a secret society for which only an elite few qualify. In a refreshing departure from standard diatribes against academia, Graff shows how academic unintelligibility is unwittingly reinforced not only by jargon and obscure writing, but by the disconnection of the curriculum and the failure to exploit the many connections between academia and popular culture. Finally, Graff offers a wealth of practical suggestions for making the culture of ideas and arguments more accessible. showing how students and the wider public can enter the debates that permeate their lives.