Everybody's a critic
By Mary Ruth Yoe
Illustrations by Steve Brodner
Select a critic:
David Brooks, AB'83
Roger Ebert, X'70
Thomas Frank, AM’89,
PhD’94
William Grimes, AM'74,
PhD'82
Dave Kehr, AB’75
Edward Rothstein,
PhD’94
Susan Sontag, AB’51
Michael Sorkin, AB’69
|
|
With 133,155 living alumni, the University of Chicago
numbers exactly that many critical thinkers in its database. For
some alumni, it’s more than a frame of mind. It’s a
full-time job.
Hell hath no horror like a brainstorming
session in which the participants all have studied at the University
of Chicago. It’s not that Chicagoans don’t have lots
of proposals. It’s more that they can’t stop judging
other people’s. In the marketplace of ideas, Chicago students
learn, the produce should be squeezed, sniffed, tapped, weighed,
and otherwise tested before buying. So while they understand the
letter of the brainstorming facilitator’s rules (“Don’t
criticize other people’s ideas. This isn’t a debate,
discussion, or forum for one person to display superiority over
another.”), they generally take a while—or a while longer—to
get into the team spirit.
Comfortable standing apart from the crowd, Chicagoans
also pride themselves on being well-versed in a range of topics;
able to put those subjects in historical, cultural, and intellectual
perspective; and skilled in expressing their views. No wonder so
many turn pro.
Of those critical masses, here are quick
sketches of eight Chicago alumni who have made their names as opinion
makers on matters large and small.
|
|