Description based on print version record.

Gerald Graff argues that our schools and colleges make the intellectual life seem more opaque, narrowly specialised, and beyond normal learning capacities than it is or needs to be. Left clueless in the academic world, many students view the life of the mind as a secret society for which only an elite few qualify. In a departure from standard diatribes against academia, Graff shows how academic unintelligibility is unwittingly reinforced not only by academic jargon and obscure writing, but by the disconnection of the curriculum and the failure to exploit the many connections between academia and popular culture. Finally, Graff offers a wealth of practical suggestions for making the culture of ideas and arguments more accessible to students, showing how students can enter the public debates that permeate their lives.

The university is popular culture, but it doesn't know it yet -- The problem problem and other oddities of academic discourse -- The mixed-message curriculum -- Intellectualism and its discontents -- Two cheers for the argument culture -- Paralysis by analysis? -- Communicative disorders -- Unlearning to write -- Scholars and sound bites, the myth of academic difficulty -- Why Johnny can't argue -- Outing criticism -- The application guessing game with Andrew Hoberek -- Teaching the club -- Hidden intellectualism -- A word for words and a vote for quotes -- Wrestling with the devil -- Deborah Meier's progressive traditionalism.

Includes bibliographical references and index.