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In Nov. 2024, The Atlantic’s cover article rang alarm bells among readers, writers, college professors and parents alike. The article was headlined: 

The Elite College Students Who Can’t Read Books

The premise is that many students admitted to elite colleges arrive having read very few books all the way through.

“It’s not that they don’t want to do the reading,” says the article. “It’s that they don’t know how. Middle and high schools have stopped asking them to.”

This week on Big Books and Bold Ideas, two writers who have also been college literature professors share their views on the article’s argument. What have they seen in their own students? And how can deep reading be encouraged?

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Last fall, The Atlantic triggered a national conversation about students and reading when they published an article about elite college students who don’t read books. On this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas, host Kerri Miller talk with writers who’ve also taught college literature classes about what they are seeing.

Last fall, The Atlantic triggered a national conversation about students and reading when they published an article about elite college students who don’t read books. On this week’s Big Books and Bold Ideas, Kerri Miller talk with writers who’ve also taught college literature classes about what they are seeing.

Why some college students aren’t reading books

Go Deeper.

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