Cost and Registration Information

Early Registration Price (by February 10): $180
Regular Price (after February 10): $198

This seminar is full. Please call (312) 255-3700 to be added to the wait list.

Seminar Description

The 2016 presidential campaign witnessed numerous charges of ignorance, stupidity, hypocrisy, elitism, and anti-intellectualism. This is no new thing. One of the nation’s greatest historians, Richard Hofstadter, first charted these topics in his 1963 book, Anti-Intellectualism in American Life. That study earned the 1964 Pulitzer Prize, and historians have been writing in its shadow ever since. This seminar consists of a close reading of that book, looking also at its reception and legacy. Six sessions.

Tim Lacy holds a PhD in American history and studies the history of thought, culture, and education. His first book, The Dream of a Democratic Culture: Mortimer J. Adler and the Great Books Idea (Palgrave Macmillan), was published in 2013.

Materials List

Required:

• Hofstadter, Richard. Anti-Intellectualism in American Life. New York: Knopf, 1963. ISBN-13: 978-0394703176

Readings:

• Please read Chapters 1-2 of Richard Hofstadter’s Anti-Intellectualism in American Life for the first class.

This class is part of the Newberry’s Adult Education Seminars Program. Learn more about our registration procedures.