In the age of social media and AI, college students are opening physical books less. But Rhodes professors still believe reading is fundamental.
It can be easy to grow discouraged by current trends in academia. But the professors at Rhodes College haven’t lost hope. (Courtesy Rhodes College)
In his 1985 book “Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Showbusiness”, author Neil Postman warned about the effects TV had on education and reading.
“The uses of print and reading are not the same as they once were; not even in schools, the last institutions where print was thought to be invincible,” he wrote. “They delude themselves who believe that television and print coexist, for coexistence implies parity.”
If Postman was worried about the bulky box TVs of the ’80s, then one can only imagine how he’d feel about iPhones, iPads, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and artificial intelligence.
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John Klyce
John Klyce is an enterprise reporter with The Daily Memphian who writes a wide range of in-depth features, as well as profiles about local leaders, scientists, musicians, artists, entrepreneurs, and anyone else doing exciting and important work in this city. He previously spent four years with the Memphis Business Journal, where he covered public companies, startups, and innovation, and a fifth year with The Commercial Appeal, where he covered education, and chronicled how gun violence and poverty were affecting Memphis youth and their families. He has also been a fellow with the Institute for Citizens and Scholars. John has a B.A. in journalism from the University of Memphis and an M.F.A. in creative writing from Boston University.
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