Hnicholsarvard Club of Minnesota Annual Banquet

Thomas Nichols, Professor at the US Naval War College and Instructor in Continuing Education at Harvard, will speak on "The Death of Expertise." Open to Harvard Club Members, those eligible for membership, and their guests. Registration is closed - Please enter the Waitlist for a chance at an open spot.  

People are now exposed to more information than ever before, provided both by technology and by increasing access to every level of education. These societal gains, however, have also helped fuel a surge in narcissistic and misguided intellectual egalitarianism that has crippled informed debates on any number of issues. Today, everyone knows everything: with only a quick trip through WebMD or Wikipedia, average citizens believe themselves to be on an equal intellectual footing with doctors and diplomats. All voices, even the most ridiculous, demand to be taken with equal seriousness, and any claim to the contrary is dismissed as undemocratic elitism.

How did this happen? Tom Nichols will discuss the many reasons for this rejection of experts, including the openness of the internet, the emergence of a customer satisfaction model in higher education, and the transformation of the news industry into a 24-hour entertainment machine. He will also explore why this rejection of expertise and knowledge is a danger to America's democratic institutions.

You can read more about the speaker here and see him on PBS Newshour here.

Schedule:

6:00 Socializing; cash bar

6:30 Dinner - indicate choice(s) of entree on RSVP page after purchasing ticket(s):

  • Grilled chicken breast with mushroom wine sauce, asparagus, sweet potato puree
  • Roasted Brussels sprouts and crispy tofu with honey sesame glaze and rice

7:30 Program

When and Where?

When:

6:00PM - 8:30PM Thu 11 May 2017, Central timezone

Where:

The Woman's Club of Minneapolis
410 Oak Grove St
Minneapolis, MN 55403

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