Agonism in the Academy
Rene Siluano
Rws 280
Prof. Kinkade
March 14th, 2013 Education, a most powerful tool of use in today's world and one that we probably take for granted, could possible be at risk as far as how knowledgeable we are becoming on the material at hand. A mind is a terrible thing to waste, and because of agonism in academics, students now might not be getting the full potential out of their mind simply because of the way they/we are being taught. Deborah Tannen, a professor at Georgetown University, in the article “Agonism in the Academy: Surviving the Argument Culture” (2000) argues that discussion rather than debate is a more proficient way of teaching our students, likewise, collaborating ideas instead of tearing down material can benefit educators and the educated more in the long run. Through a focus on logic, Tannen explains the negative influence that agonistic learning has on academic culture; she uses ethos and pathos to support her logical argument that agonistic learning is not as valuable as open discussion.
In order to clearly explain the problem of agonism, Tannen shares a personal experience of a book club meeting where academic material, and learning, was torn down by critics and agonistic people. According to Tannen, during the book club meeting there were disagreements of the material between different groups. As she states, “The phenomenon I’d observed at the book-group meeting was an example of what cultural linguist Walter Ong calls agonism.” (215). Here is where Tannen first exemplifies her main claim of agonism in academics, getting her audience familiar with the term. Tannen states, “I left the meeting disappointed because I had learned nothing new about the book or its subjects. All I had learned about is the acumen of the critics. I was especially struck by the fact that one of the most influential and most talkative critics was the member who had not read the book.” (215). Through this statement, and personal experience,
Rws 280
Prof. Kinkade
March 14th, 2013 Education, a most powerful tool of use in today's world and one that we probably take for granted, could possible be at risk as far as how knowledgeable we are becoming on the material at hand. A mind is a terrible thing to waste, and because of agonism in academics, students now might not be getting the full potential out of their mind simply because of the way they/we are being taught. Deborah Tannen, a professor at Georgetown University, in the article “Agonism in the Academy: Surviving the Argument Culture” (2000) argues that discussion rather than debate is a more proficient way of teaching our students, likewise, collaborating ideas instead of tearing down material can benefit educators and the educated more in the long run. Through a focus on logic, Tannen explains the negative influence that agonistic learning has on academic culture; she uses ethos and pathos to support her logical argument that agonistic learning is not as valuable as open discussion.
In order to clearly explain the problem of agonism, Tannen shares a personal experience of a book club meeting where academic material, and learning, was torn down by critics and agonistic people. According to Tannen, during the book club meeting there were disagreements of the material between different groups. As she states, “The phenomenon I’d observed at the book-group meeting was an example of what cultural linguist Walter Ong calls agonism.” (215). Here is where Tannen first exemplifies her main claim of agonism in academics, getting her audience familiar with the term. Tannen states, “I left the meeting disappointed because I had learned nothing new about the book or its subjects. All I had learned about is the acumen of the critics. I was especially struck by the fact that one of the most influential and most talkative critics was the member who had not read the book.” (215). Through this statement, and personal experience,