Thursday, October 24, 2024 - 12:40 p.m. to 2 p.m.
Memorial Union Building Theater II
Matt Motta
Ph.D. will be discussing his recently-released book Anti-Scientific
Americans (Oxford University Press).
Motta will review new theoretical and data-driven insights into the prevalence, origins, and policy consequences of anti-intellectualism in the US. Conceptualizing anti-intellectualism as the dislike and distrust of scientists, academics, and other experts, he will bring together "micro-level" survey data from cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys spanning six decades, and aggregated "macro-level" data from hundreds of opinion polls dating back to the 1940s, to show that anti-intellectualism is both a pervasive and pernicious presence in American public life; including a discussion of how anti-intellectualism both shapes and is shaped by Americans' opposition to the role that experts play in the policy making process.
