In his essay “Hidden Intellectualism”, Gerald Graff makes a controversial claim regarding intellectualism itself. While we tend to think of intellectualism as present only in historically academic subjects such as philosophy, the sciences, or poetry, Graff argues that everyday topics such as cars, sports, and fashion have the potential to be equally intellectual. He asserts that many schools have neglected to unlock this potential, and that they should harness it by incorporating seemingly unintellectual topics in school subjects. Graff advocates for the strategic use of traditionally street-smart topics into schools and colleges to encourage reflection and analysis in a similar way to academic topics.
Graff even blames schools for not including the intrigue of sports and entertainment into a form of intellectualism that would have perked his attention back in school (248). In my experience, schools today are still guilty of this. Where I went to school, we focused almost exclusively on historically academic subjects when it came to intellectualism. For instance, English 11 and 12 consisted of highfalutin poems, analyzing …show more content…
He incorporated multiple everyday examples into his classes. He often referenced modern entertainment or “street smart” topics, and utilized them to engage students who were otherwise not participating, but suddenly found themselves fully engaged, writing and presenting arguments. In History 12 one of his assignments was to play a round of Call of Duty and reflect on how realistic the game was compared to genuine combat in World War Two. We constructed arguments as to whether video games including violence are ethical or not, considering the sacrifices our men and women in uniform have made. In retrospect, this approach was ingenious, because the males in my class who knew lots about Call of Duty were fully engaged in intellectual behaviour: discussing, debating, and
Graff even blames schools for not including the intrigue of sports and entertainment into a form of intellectualism that would have perked his attention back in school (248). In my experience, schools today are still guilty of this. Where I went to school, we focused almost exclusively on historically academic subjects when it came to intellectualism. For instance, English 11 and 12 consisted of highfalutin poems, analyzing …show more content…
He incorporated multiple everyday examples into his classes. He often referenced modern entertainment or “street smart” topics, and utilized them to engage students who were otherwise not participating, but suddenly found themselves fully engaged, writing and presenting arguments. In History 12 one of his assignments was to play a round of Call of Duty and reflect on how realistic the game was compared to genuine combat in World War Two. We constructed arguments as to whether video games including violence are ethical or not, considering the sacrifices our men and women in uniform have made. In retrospect, this approach was ingenious, because the males in my class who knew lots about Call of Duty were fully engaged in intellectual behaviour: discussing, debating, and