Shop class, once a rite of passage, has all but disappeared from mainstream education. Instead of studying the manual arts, students are funneled into careers as "knowledge workers" -- careers that, ironically, are sometimes less cognitively demanding than the work of a mechanic.

This educational imperative is based on a separation of thinking from doing -- a misguided partition between hand and mind that can be traced to the rise of the assembly line a century ago.

In his new book Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work, Matthew B. Crawford casts a critical eye at both the assembly line and dumbed-down white collar work, and makes case for the manual trades. They require careful thinking and are punctuated by moments of genuine pleasure; they cannot be outsourced or made obsolete; they tie us to the local communities in which we live; and they instill the pride that comes from doing genuinely useful work.

Mr. Crawford, a contributing editor to EPPC's journal The New Atlantis, has a Ph.D. in political philosophy from the University of Chicago and is currently a fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture at the University of Virginia. He also has a small business repairing motorcycles in Richmond, Virginia.

In this evening lecture at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, Mr. Crawford will discuss his new book, which has been called "timely and provocative" (The New York Times), "a powerful case for the special value of skilled work" (The Wall Street Journal), and "the best self-help book I've ever read" (Slate).

A wine and cheese reception will follow the discussion. 

REGISTRATION INFORMATION:

This lecture is free and open to the public, but advance registration is required. If you would like to attend, please send your name, affiliation, address, and phone number to events@eppc.org.