Deep Reading Will Save Your Soul

Real learning has become impossible in universities. DIY programs offer a better way.

By William Deresiewicz, published in Persuasion.

“My student Matthew, having spent many years searching for, then dreaming of, his ideal intellectual environment, decided to create it himself. It would marry rigorous group study of literary and philosophical texts with mindful living and abstention from technologies of communication. It would be a face-to-face community, a retreat from distraction, a school for adults. It would be small, self-governing, contemplative, and free of charge.”