Our students and workers are living and thinking in a 21st-century, digital, interconnected world, but we're still educating and training them for a 20th-century, industrial, compartmentalized model. That's Cathy Davidson's message in Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn.
Cathy is the co-founder of HASTAC (Humanities, Arts, Sciences and Technology Advanced Collaboratory or "haystack"), a virtual network of over 8000 innovators world-wide that directs the annual $2 million HASTAC/MacArthur Foundation Digital Media and Learning Competitions. Cathy and David Theo Goldberg (cofounder of HASTAC) won the 2012 World Technology Award for Education. She served as Vice Provost for Interdisciplinary Studies at Duke University from 1998 until 2006. Cathy helped create the Program in Information Science + Information Studies, the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute, and many other innovative programs.
"Cathy Davidson integrates findings from psychology, attention, neuroscience, and learning theory to help us get a glimpse of the future and, more importantly, a better understanding of our own individual potential."
— Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational and The Upside of Irrationality
Although we’ve all welcomed digital technology into our lives, many of us are still skeptical of its effects on our minds. We worry that the internet, video games, content overload, and multitasking are dumbing us down; we look back with regret at the days people could just sit down, do one thing at a time, and do it well. Cathy shows us that this old-fashioned model of attention is just one of many possible ways for the mind to work. She traces "the myth of monotasking" to the specialized assembly-line model of work and education that grew out of the Industrial Revolution. Things have changed, and it’s only right for our brains to change with them. It’s time for our schools, our workplaces, and our whole approach to attention to change as well.
Cathy Davidson is the Ruth F. DeVarney Professor of English and the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Duke University. She has served on the National Council on the Humanities since 2011. Her more than twenty published books include Thirty-Six Views of Mt Fuji: On Finding Myself in Japan; Revolution and the Word: The Rise of the Novel in America; Closing: The Life and Death of an American Factory (with photographer Bill Bamberger); and The Future of Thinking (with HASTAC co-founder David Theo Goldberg).
She writes for Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, Fast Company, The Washington Post, and many other publications.
Books
Now You See It
How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn
Cathy Davidson
When Cathy Davidson and Duke University gave free iPods to the freshman class in 2003, critics said they were wasting their money. Yet when students in practically every discipline invented academic uses for their music players, suddenly the idea could be seen in a new light-as an innovative way to turn learning on its head.
This radical experiment is at the heart of Davidson's inspiring new book. Using cutting-edge research on the brain, she shows how "attention blindness" has produced one of our society's greatest challenges: while we've all acknowledged the great changes of the digital age, most of us still toil in schools and workplaces designed for the last century. Davidson introduces us to visionaries whose groundbreaking ideas-from schools with curriculums built around video games to companies that train workers using virtual environments-will open the doors to new ways of working and learning. A lively hybrid of Thomas Friedman and Norman Doidge, Now You See It is a refreshingly optimistic argument for a bold embrace of our connected, collaborative future.
"Her book Now You See It celebrates the brain as a lean, mean, adaptive multitasking machine that — with proper care and feeding — can do much more than our hidebound institutions demand of it. The first step is transforming schools, which are out of touch with the radical new realities of the Internet era ... Davidson is such a good storyteller, and her characters are so well drawn …"
— The New York Times Book Review
"In her galvanic new book, Now You See It is - as rooted in field experience, as well as rigorous history, philosophy and science - this book about education happens to double as an optimistic, even thrilling, summer read. It supplies reasons for hope about the future."
— The New York Times
"In a chatty, enthusiastic style, the author takes us on a journey through contemporary classrooms and offices to describe how they are changing-or, according to her, should change. Among much else, we need to build schools and workplaces that match the demands of our multitasking brains. That means emphasizing 'nonlinear thinking,' 'social networks' and 'crowdsourcing' ... Now You See It is filled with instructive anecdotes and genuine insights."
— The Wall Street Journal
"The book's purpose and strength are in detailing the important lessons we can glean from the online world. Rather than focusing on how games such as World of Warcraft or the social-networking services of Twitter and Facebook change our brains, Davidson believes we should foster these newfound skills, building curricula around interactive multiplayer games and training workers using virtual environments."
— Scientific American
Subjects
Cathy tailors each presentation to the needs of her audience and is not limited to the topics we have listed below. These are subjects that have proven valuable to customers in the past and are meant only to suggest her range and interests. Please ask us about any subject that interests you; we are sure that we can accommodate you.
Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn
Education 2.0
Work in the 21st Century
The Future of Higher Education
The Future of the Humanities in a Digital Age
Videos
Chancellor's Colloquium at UC Davis
How the Future of Education Demands a Paradigm Shift
Reviews
A non-profit association that provides services to independent schools:
Dear Cathy – We are so very honored that you joined us for our 2013 [...] Annual Conference in Philadelphia. Your thoughtfulness in your presentation for our particular group was apparent and we appreciate all that you did to engage the audience. As you saw and heard from the book signing line, our attendees were both inspired and motivated by your remarks. We also appreciate how active you were on Twitter with our attendees and saw many tweets on great takeaways that came from your presentation.
Dear Dr. Davidson, Thank you for addressing the General Assembly at the [...] Annual Conference. Your talk was the perfect endnote: galvanizing, erudite, and entertaining. I teach public speaking for a living, and I was impressed. Again, my thanks for your excellent work. I aspire to it!
International nonprofit leadership forum:
Dear Cathy — A quick note to express my deep and heartfelt thanks for your presentation. I thought that it was magical and transcendent and among the very best we've had. It is in the "top ten" in my book out of more than 500 [...] papers and presentations over the years. Thank you for contributing so eloquently, meaningfully- and personally- to our work. Your ideas and perspective will help to shape our deliberations for many years to come.
I very much look forward to staying in touch and to finding ways to work together in the future.
A major U.S. university:
Dear Cathy — Thank you again for being part of our commencement ceremony here. Your presentation was exceptional; all week I've heard faculty and staff talking about how great it was, even a comment from a faculty member who said it was "the best commencement speech we've had." Thank you also for sharing your speech with us.
It was a pleasure meeting you. I hope we have the opportunity to have you back again.
When Cathy Davidson and Duke University gave free iPods to the freshman class in 2003, critics said they were wasting their money. Yet when students in practically every discipline invented academic uses for their music players, suddenly the idea could be seen in a new light-as an innovative way to turn learning on its head.
This radical experiment is at the heart of Davidson's inspiring new book. Using cutting-edge research on the brain, she shows how "attention blindness" has produced one of our society's greatest challenges: while we've all acknowledged the great changes of the digital age, most of us still toil in schools and workplaces designed for the last century. Davidson introduces us to visionaries whose groundbreaking ideas-from schools with curriculums built around video games to companies that train workers using virtual environments-will open the doors to new ways of working and learning. A lively hybrid of Thomas Friedman and Norman Doidge, *Now You See It* is a refreshingly optimistic argument for a bold embrace of our connected, collaborative future.
When Cathy Davidson and Duke University gave free iPods to the freshman class in 2003, critics said they were wasting their money. Yet when students in practically every discipline invented academic uses for their music players, suddenly the idea could be seen in a new light-as an innovative way to turn learning on its head.
This radical experiment is at the heart of Davidson's inspiring new book. Using cutting-edge research on the brain, she shows how "attention blindness" has produced one of our society's greatest challenges: while we've all acknowledged the great changes of the digital age, most of us still toil in schools and workplaces designed for the last century. Davidson introduces us to visionaries whose groundbreaking ideas-from schools with curriculums built around video games to companies that train workers using virtual environments-will open the doors to new ways of working and learning. A lively hybrid of Thomas Friedman and Norman Doidge, *Now You See It* is a refreshingly optimistic argument for a bold embrace of our connected, collaborative future.