To a Certain Degree:The Art of Graduating
The Art of College seminars are based on the forthcoming book by Dr. Ingrid Byerly, entitled To a Certain Degree: The Art of Graduating.
To a Certain Degree: The Art of Graduating is written to speak to students who want to optimize their college experience, as well as to those who want to rescue it. There simply is no 'golden guide' about how to become a fully engaged and enthusiastic student, and no 'must-read' about the real motives behind truly becoming educated and acquiring knowledge. There certainly is nothing close to a 'college classic' that illuminates both the thrill and the romance of learning, while dealing compassionately with the many inevitable difficulties along the way. Instead of such a treasured manual on every student's bookshelf, there are numerous 'how-to-study' guides filled with mnemonic tricks, pop psychology, and the often-condescending language of writers aping slang way too soon, or far too long after their own college experiences. These books, presented mostly in dense workbook form, rather than as an accessibly readable conversation, mostly cause added frustration and despondency, and quickly find their way to used bins, rather than being treasured and recommended.
To a Certain Degree: The Art of Graduating was written over thirty years, evolving through five critical stages in the author's life. Starting with the author's personal notes on the subject of learning while a high school and undergraduate student, she then traces her experiences as a teacher in multicultural programs in South African schools.The book later explores Dr. Byerly's challenges as a doctoral candidate at Duke University, as a lecturer in culture courses to international students in Oxford, and eventually as a professor to college students in the United States. She logs the prerequisites for understanding the culture and nature of learning and explores the traditions laid down by successful undergraduates becoming real scholars, emphasizing the fervor with which individuals can view the process and purpose of their education.
Ingrid became enamored of the idea of the 'whole person' that develops as a result of integrating intellectual, social, and personal changes. In To a Certain Degree, she explains her understanding of this holistic intellectual culture (rather than merely a collection of short-term strategies and study-guides geared towards impressive grade-averages), which drives the framework of the book.
Intended as a companion for the student years, To a Certain Degree is neither dry nor condescending, sloppy or pseudo-'hip'--it is merely accessible to the student. Years of personal journaling, discourses, interviews, and e-mails allow Ingrid to offer an unparalleled 'conversation' with students; a primary narrative substantiated by a comprehensive body of first-person stories that draws from a wide range of different worlds.
This approach ensures that the content of the book is arresting, personal, and poignant, while the tone of the book is readable, engaging, and empathetic. To a Certain Degree, then, is a candid, comprehensive and uncompromising conversation with students on the art of maximizing the college experience on all levels- academically, personally and socially- from the day they arrive on campus to the day they graduate, and beyond. It stresses how to optimize the positives of their unique situation, as well as how to prevent or deal with the possible negatives. This book is intended to be a guide for students who want to fully embrace their college years while they have them, rather than grit their teeth through them. It is intended to both facilitate the journey towards a love of learning, as well as to fundamentally transform the way they feel about college, and what they are doing there. It presents students with the prospect of college as a brief moment in their lives that should be seized with a thorough awareness of both the skills and, most importantly, the approach and attitude needed to fully benefit from the experience, and to consequently leave with no regret, but rather a sense of fulfillment and optimism.