Beverly Gage's new book, "This Land Is Your Land," offers a travelogue-style exploration of U.S. history, visiting locations like Chicago and upstate New York to contextualize pivotal eras like the Gilded Age and the pre-Civil War social movements. The book aims to help Americans grapple with a complex national history ahead of the 250th anniversary.
The conversation highlights a significant decline in trust in higher education, which Gage's Yale committee report addresses. This erosion of trust is linked to broader societal trends and is exacerbated by internal issues like grade inflation and the rise of AI.
Gage argues that the prevalence of A's and A-minuses is "ruining grades as a mechanism of communication." This inflation, driven by student pressure and faculty incentives, distorts student choices and makes it difficult to assess mastery of material.
The discussion covers two technological disruptions: AI and personal devices. AI challenges the core of academic work and trust, while laptops and phones in the classroom create a distracting environment that degrades the learning experience for everyone.
Keep pulling the thread on Beverly Gage.