The present-day education system in the United States may have something to learn from a book published about America more than 175 years ago.
Bill McClay, the SunTrust Bank Chair of Excellence in Humanities at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, will deliver a lecture 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in Baker University Center Theatre titled “Tocqueville's Moment … and Ours.”
McClay will speak about Alexis de Tocqueville’s ideas about change in democracy and apply them to modern day, focusing on changes in the education system.
Tocqueville, a 19th century French historian, wrote Democracy in America, in which he attempted to describe democracy in the United States, which was at the time the only large-scale democracy in the world.
“What I'm interested in is that he really is a great example of a thinker who saw himself at being at a transformational moment in history,” McClay said.
McClay will look at these ideas as they apply to new technology and the way the education system is changing in America.
“(There is) a lot of temptation to make use of the new communication technology, to try to lower the cost and increase access,” McClay said. “And I really lecture against that — that we shouldn't abandon everything that has served as well in the past in education.”
McClay is visiting as part of the George Washington Forum on American Ideas, Politics & Institution, directed by Robert Ingram, an associate professor of history.
The Washington Forum has brought various speakers to Ohio University throughout the year, including Amity Shlaes, from the Council on Foreign Relations. It will also bring Roger Ailes, CEO of Fox News, to OU on May 21.
“(McClay is) just somebody who, as a public intellectual, is reasonably widely known in academic circles,” Ingram said. “He's somebody who people who read and come across those circles would see.”
McClay often tries to relate historical works and concepts to issues found in today’s society, Ingram added.
McClay has served on the National Council on the Humanities, the governing board for the National Endowment for the Humanities, for over 10 years. He has served on the board for two consecutive terms, appointed by both President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama.
“I think (his appointments are) sort of a testament to the quality of his mind,” Ingram said. “He is the longest serving member of the National Council for the Humanities in the history of the institution.”
McClay is also the author of The Masterless: Self and Society in Modern America.
bv111010@ohiou.edu
