“Beauty and Faith in the Age of Twitter” featuring Mark Bauerlein
The Digital Revolution is often heralded as an epochal advance in human knowledge and communication. If only that were true! For when we examine the most eager adopters of digital tools, the Millennials, we find the opposite is taking place. Progress in educational achievement has slowed, American students’ rank among those in other countries has fallen, and skills deficiencies have climbed. Furthermore, religious devotion has declined. At the same time, their immersion in social media, gaming, and other advents has soared (while TV time has remained constant). It’s hard not to take the trends as related. In this presentation, Bauerlein lays out some of the challenges digital technology poses to faith and humanistic study. He welcomes any responses at mbauerlein@firstthings.com.
Mark Bauerlein is Professor of English at Emory University and Senior Editor at First Things. His books include Literary Criticism: An Autopsy (1997), The Pragmatic Mind: Explorations in the Psychology of Belief (1997), and The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future (2008). His essays have appeared in PMLA, Partisan Review, Wilson Quarterly, Yale Review, Commentary, and New Criterion, and his commentaries and reviews in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, The Weekly Standard, The Guardian, and The Chronicle of Higher Education.
