Description
The seminar examines the evolving role of public intellectuals in contemporary contexts. The course begins with a brief historical overview, then focuses on today’s landscape—including the economics of intellectual work, audience development in the digital age, and shifts in content and scholarship. Particular emphasis is placed on transdisciplinary generalism, an orientation that prizes synthesis across epistemic boundaries over exclusive specialization within a single discipline. Such generalism enables public intellectuals to better match the velocity and scale of the contemporary digital milieu—which in turn provokes new questions. How are audiences affected by this shift toward transdisciplinarity and generalism? What is gained, and what is lost? What new opportunities and challenges emerge for public intellectuals navigating these changes? The course combines scholarly readings, essays, newsletters, podcasts, and social media materials with hands-on practice. Working from within