UT Discusses “The Dumbest Generation,” Hosts Author

UT’s Teaching Guild will host Mark Bauerlein, author of The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future; Or, Don’t Trust Anyone Under 30, on campus Friday, Sept. 16, at 3 p.m. in Reeves Theatre. Bauerlein contends that the digital age of gratification is creating a generation of youth who are less engaged politically and culturally.

“Bauerlein’s presentation will challenge all of us, young and old, to ask what role new technologies do play in our lives and what role we want them to play in our lives,” said Bruce Friesen, associate professor of sociology and chair of the Teaching Guild. “As they are presently used by college students, new technologies more often prevent students from learning than facilitate it.”

Bauerlein is an English professor at Emory University and has served as the director of the Office of Research and Analysis at the National Endowment for the Arts. The Dumbest Generation (www.dumbestgeneration.com) was published in May 2008.

The Teaching Guild’s mission is to advance the best practices of college teaching by collaborating with faculty members to cultivate an institutional culture in which teaching is highly valued and which inspires students.