John McCarthy
Listen to John McCarthy, director, Max Kade Center for European and German studies, professor of German and comparative literature, discuss reading and writing in the age of consumerism Nov. 1 at the Nashville Public Library as part of the university's popular Thinking Out of the Lunch Box lecture series..
A summary from McCarthy: A recent ad for Starbuck’s Coffee Co. begins by asking: “How does a kid who wants to be a space explorer become an adult who is an astronaut?” The answer follows immediately: “Well, it all starts with reading.” Hmm. What does reading have to do with coffee? Nothing, really, we are told, although it mirrors the company’s values. Ok. If this is true of Starbuck’s, how much truer must it be for a university? This talk reflects upon how intellectuals contribute to the “closing” and the “opening” of the American mind. I ask whether universities have turned into mere “knowledge factories.” Is knowledge production a computerized process that spits out information for quick consumption? What role can a humanities professor play in a culture of consumption? Ultimately, I ask what good are reading and writing within this culture? Why should they matter?”
Media contact: Ann Marie Deer Owens, (615) 322-NEWS
annmarie.owens@vanderbilt.edu
