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The United States of (Non)Reading:
The End of Civilization or a New Era?
by Susan D. Blum
Just the other day one of my undergraduate assistants reported a friend’s boast that he had not read anything for school since fifth grade. A student at an excellent university, successful, “clever,” “smart,” he can write papers, take exams, participate in class or online discussions. Why would he have to read?
Students sometimes don’t buy the class books. Professors are shocked.
Several years ago a student told me that she regarded all assigned reading as “recommended,” even if the professors labeled it “required.” Were professors so dumb that they didn’t know that?
The idea of assigned reading, as the core activity of college students, is old. Students don’t see it as central; faculty do.
And though I used to, and sometimes still do, spend a lot of energy lamenting this, by taking a broader view of the nature of reading and writing, I have come to understand it and even to some extent accept it.
Student avoidance of reading is not an entirely new problem. When I was in graduate
