Includes bibliographical references and index.

"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."--Jacket.

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