Nerds: Who They Are and Why We Need More of Them
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- Synopsis
- Are you socially awkward? Technologically sophisticated or just 1 extremely passionate about one or more subjects? Well, maybe you're a "nerd." And what's wrong with being a nerd? In this fascinating book, child and family psychologist David Anderegg examines the process by which kids learn what nerds are, and what happens to their identities as a result of their developing awareness of this uniquely American stereotype. In Nerds, Anderegg surveys the long history of American anti-intellectualism and its current avatar: antinerd sentiment. Although at first glance it may not seem so bad to call someone a nerd, this stereotype is wreaking havoc in the lives of our children, affecting their performance in school and ultimately jeopardizing American economic competitiveness. (It may not be an accident that international math and science testing shows American fifteen-year-olds in twenty-fourth place among the world's most developed countries.) Deftly revealing layers of cultural "knowledge" about nerds, Anderegg explores such topics as: * the conformity of adolescence and the endurance of adolescent stereotypes, long after people should know better * the pathologizing of nerds with diagnoses such as Asperger's syndrome O the archetypal struggles of nerds and jocks in popular culture and history . Using educational research, psychologic theory, and interviews with kids themselves, Anderegg urges readers to start deconstructing this most harmful of social constructions before any more smart and self-confident kids stop being so interested in what they're interested in In other words, before they stop being kids.
- Copyright:
- 2007
Book Details
- Book Quality:
- Excellent
- Book Size:
- 287 Pages
- ISBN-13:
- 9781585425907
- Publisher:
- Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
- Date of Addition:
- 05/22/10
- Copyrighted By:
- David Anderegg
- Adult content:
- No
- Language:
- English
- Has Image Descriptions:
- No
- Categories:
- Nonfiction, Psychology
- Submitted By:
- Shelley L. Rhodes
- Proofread By:
- Toni Clavie
- Usage Restrictions:
- This is a copyrighted book.