William Deresiewicz: Excellent Sheep, Revisited [highlights]

Bill Deresiewicz returned to campus in April 2014 to discuss his forthcoming book, Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life. He was in conversation with Rob Reich, Faculty Director of the Program in Ethics in Society. More information about Deresiewicz's book: http://pages.simonandschuster.com/exc...

Find the video of his full talk here: http://youtu.be/QBf2_L-xX28

As a professor at Yale, Deresiewicz saw something that troubled him deeply. His students, some of the nation's brightest minds, were adrift when it came to the big questions: how to think critically and creatively, and how to find a sense of purpose. In Excellent Sheep, Deresiewicz argues that students are world-class hoop jumpers, meritocratic machines whose capacity to think independently and innovatively has diminished as schools shift focus from the humanities to "practical" subjects like economics and computer science.

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The McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society is committed to bringing ethical reflection to bear on important social problems through research, teaching, and engagement. Visit the Center's website for more information: http://ethicsinsociety.stanford.edu

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