Spend an evening with author Nicholas Carr Sept. 28 in Ferguson Auditorium

September 13, 2012

Nicholas Carr, author of The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains, will give a reading and talk at 7 p.m. Sept. 28 in Ferguson Auditorium, followed by a reception. The free, public event is presented by Lenoir-Rhyne University Visiting Writing Series, Lenoir-Rhyne University Center for Graduate Studies of Asheville, and A-B Tech.

Is Google making us stupid? When Carr first posted this question in an Atlantic essay, he tapped into a well of anxiety about how the Internet is changing us. He also crystallized one of the most important debates of our time. As we enjoy the Net’s bounties, are we sacrificing our ability to read and think deeply? Building on the insights of thinkers from Plato to Mcluhan, Carr makes a convincing case that every information technology carries an intellectual ethic – a set of assumptions about the nature of knowledge and intelligence. 

The Shallows was a finalist for the 2011 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction and a finalist for the 2011 PEN Center USA Literary Award. An international bestseller, it has been published in 23 different languages. Carr was a columnist for The Guardian and wrote for The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Wired, The Sunday Times (London), The New Republic, The Financial Times, Die Zeit and other periodicals. He holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College and an M.A. in English and American Literature and Language from Harvard University.