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The 10 Best Essay Collections of the Decade

Ever tried. ever failed. no matter..

Friends, it’s true: the end of the decade approaches. It’s been a difficult, anxiety-provoking, morally compromised decade, but at least it’s been populated by some damn fine literature. We’ll take our silver linings where we can.

So, as is our hallowed duty as a literary and culture website—though with full awareness of the potentially fruitless and endlessly contestable nature of the task—in the coming weeks, we’ll be taking a look at the best and most important (these being not always the same) books of the decade that was. We will do this, of course, by means of a variety of lists. We began with the best debut novels , the best short story collections , the best poetry collections , and the best memoirs of the decade , and we have now reached the fifth list in our series: the best essay collections published in English between 2010 and 2019.

The following books were chosen after much debate (and several rounds of voting) by the Literary Hub staff. Tears were spilled, feelings were hurt, books were re-read. And as you’ll shortly see, we had a hard time choosing just ten—so we’ve also included a list of dissenting opinions, and an even longer list of also-rans. As ever, free to add any of your own favorites that we’ve missed in the comments below.

The Top Ten

Oliver sacks, the mind’s eye (2010).

Toward the end of his life, maybe suspecting or sensing that it was coming to a close, Dr. Oliver Sacks tended to focus his efforts on sweeping intellectual projects like On the Move (a memoir), The River of Consciousness (a hybrid intellectual history), and Hallucinations (a book-length meditation on, what else, hallucinations). But in 2010, he gave us one more classic in the style that first made him famous, a form he revolutionized and brought into the contemporary literary canon: the medical case study as essay. In The Mind’s Eye , Sacks focuses on vision, expanding the notion to embrace not only how we see the world, but also how we map that world onto our brains when our eyes are closed and we’re communing with the deeper recesses of consciousness. Relaying histories of patients and public figures, as well as his own history of ocular cancer (the condition that would eventually spread and contribute to his death), Sacks uses vision as a lens through which to see all of what makes us human, what binds us together, and what keeps us painfully apart. The essays that make up this collection are quintessential Sacks: sensitive, searching, with an expertise that conveys scientific information and experimentation in terms we can not only comprehend, but which also expand how we see life carrying on around us. The case studies of “Stereo Sue,” of the concert pianist Lillian Kalir, and of Howard, the mystery novelist who can no longer read, are highlights of the collection, but each essay is a kind of gem, mined and polished by one of the great storytellers of our era.  –Dwyer Murphy, CrimeReads Managing Editor

John Jeremiah Sullivan, Pulphead (2011)

The American essay was having a moment at the beginning of the decade, and Pulphead was smack in the middle. Without any hard data, I can tell you that this collection of John Jeremiah Sullivan’s magazine features—published primarily in GQ , but also in The Paris Review , and Harper’s —was the only full book of essays most of my literary friends had read since Slouching Towards Bethlehem , and probably one of the only full books of essays they had even heard of.

Well, we all picked a good one. Every essay in Pulphead is brilliant and entertaining, and illuminates some small corner of the American experience—even if it’s just one house, with Sullivan and an aging writer inside (“Mr. Lytle” is in fact a standout in a collection with no filler; fittingly, it won a National Magazine Award and a Pushcart Prize). But what are they about? Oh, Axl Rose, Christian Rock festivals, living around the filming of One Tree Hill , the Tea Party movement, Michael Jackson, Bunny Wailer, the influence of animals, and by god, the Miz (of Real World/Road Rules Challenge fame).

But as Dan Kois has pointed out , what connects these essays, apart from their general tone and excellence, is “their author’s essential curiosity about the world, his eye for the perfect detail, and his great good humor in revealing both his subjects’ and his own foibles.” They are also extremely well written, drawing much from fictional techniques and sentence craft, their literary pleasures so acute and remarkable that James Wood began his review of the collection in The New Yorker with a quiz: “Are the following sentences the beginnings of essays or of short stories?” (It was not a hard quiz, considering the context.)

It’s hard not to feel, reading this collection, like someone reached into your brain, took out the half-baked stuff you talk about with your friends, researched it, lived it, and represented it to you smarter and better and more thoroughly than you ever could. So read it in awe if you must, but read it.  –Emily Temple, Senior Editor

Aleksandar Hemon, The Book of My Lives (2013)

Such is the sentence-level virtuosity of Aleksandar Hemon—the Bosnian-American writer, essayist, and critic—that throughout his career he has frequently been compared to the granddaddy of borrowed language prose stylists: Vladimir Nabokov. While it is, of course, objectively remarkable that anyone could write so beautifully in a language they learned in their twenties, what I admire most about Hemon’s work is the way in which he infuses every essay and story and novel with both a deep humanity and a controlled (but never subdued) fury. He can also be damn funny. Hemon grew up in Sarajevo and left in 1992 to study in Chicago, where he almost immediately found himself stranded, forced to watch from afar as his beloved home city was subjected to a relentless four-year bombardment, the longest siege of a capital in the history of modern warfare. This extraordinary memoir-in-essays is many things: it’s a love letter to both the family that raised him and the family he built in exile; it’s a rich, joyous, and complex portrait of a place the 90s made synonymous with war and devastation; and it’s an elegy for the wrenching loss of precious things. There’s an essay about coming of age in Sarajevo and another about why he can’t bring himself to leave Chicago. There are stories about relationships forged and maintained on the soccer pitch or over the chessboard, and stories about neighbors and mentors turned monstrous by ethnic prejudice. As a chorus they sing with insight, wry humor, and unimaginable sorrow. I am not exaggerating when I say that the collection’s devastating final piece, “The Aquarium”—which details his infant daughter’s brain tumor and the agonizing months which led up to her death—remains the most painful essay I have ever read.  –Dan Sheehan, Book Marks Editor

Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)

Of every essay in my relentlessly earmarked copy of Braiding Sweetgrass , Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer’s gorgeously rendered argument for why and how we should keep going, there’s one that especially hits home: her account of professor-turned-forester Franz Dolp. When Dolp, several decades ago, revisited the farm that he had once shared with his ex-wife, he found a scene of destruction: The farm’s new owners had razed the land where he had tried to build a life. “I sat among the stumps and the swirling red dust and I cried,” he wrote in his journal.

So many in my generation (and younger) feel this kind of helplessness–and considerable rage–at finding ourselves newly adult in a world where those in power seem determined to abandon or destroy everything that human bodies have always needed to survive: air, water, land. Asking any single book to speak to this helplessness feels unfair, somehow; yet, Braiding Sweetgrass does, by weaving descriptions of indigenous tradition with the environmental sciences in order to show what survival has looked like over the course of many millennia. Kimmerer’s essays describe her personal experience as a Potawotami woman, plant ecologist, and teacher alongside stories of the many ways that humans have lived in relationship to other species. Whether describing Dolp’s work–he left the stumps for a life of forest restoration on the Oregon coast–or the work of others in maple sugar harvesting, creating black ash baskets, or planting a Three Sisters garden of corn, beans, and squash, she brings hope. “In ripe ears and swelling fruit, they counsel us that all gifts are multiplied in relationship,” she writes of the Three Sisters, which all sustain one another as they grow. “This is how the world keeps going.”  –Corinne Segal, Senior Editor

Hilton Als, White Girls (2013)

In a world where we are so often reduced to one essential self, Hilton Als’ breathtaking book of critical essays, White Girls , which meditates on the ways he and other subjects read, project and absorb parts of white femininity, is a radically liberating book. It’s one of the only works of critical thinking that doesn’t ask the reader, its author or anyone he writes about to stoop before the doorframe of complete legibility before entering. Something he also permitted the subjects and readers of his first book, the glorious book-length essay, The Women , a series of riffs and psychological portraits of Dorothy Dean, Owen Dodson, and the author’s own mother, among others. One of the shifts of that book, uncommon at the time, was how it acknowledges the way we inhabit bodies made up of variously gendered influences. To read White Girls now is to experience the utter freedom of this gift and to marvel at Als’ tremendous versatility and intelligence.

He is easily the most diversely talented American critic alive. He can write into genres like pop music and film where being part of an audience is a fantasy happening in the dark. He’s also wired enough to know how the art world builds reputations on the nod of rich white patrons, a significant collision in a time when Jean-Michel Basquiat is America’s most expensive modern artist. Als’ swerving and always moving grip on performance means he’s especially good on describing the effect of art which is volatile and unstable and built on the mingling of made-up concepts and the hard fact of their effect on behavior, such as race. Writing on Flannery O’Connor for instance he alone puts a finger on her “uneasy and unavoidable union between black and white, the sacred and the profane, the shit and the stars.” From Eminem to Richard Pryor, André Leon Talley to Michael Jackson, Als enters the life and work of numerous artists here who turn the fascinations of race and with whiteness into fury and song and describes the complexity of their beauty like his life depended upon it. There are also brief memoirs here that will stop your heart. This is an essential work to understanding American culture.  –John Freeman, Executive Editor

Eula Biss, On Immunity (2014)

We move through the world as if we can protect ourselves from its myriad dangers, exercising what little agency we have in an effort to keep at bay those fears that gather at the edges of any given life: of loss, illness, disaster, death. It is these fears—amplified by the birth of her first child—that Eula Biss confronts in her essential 2014 essay collection, On Immunity . As any great essayist does, Biss moves outward in concentric circles from her own very private view of the world to reveal wider truths, discovering as she does a culture consumed by anxiety at the pervasive toxicity of contemporary life. As Biss interrogates this culture—of privilege, of whiteness—she interrogates herself, questioning the flimsy ways in which we arm ourselves with science or superstition against the impurities of daily existence.

Five years on from its publication, it is dismaying that On Immunity feels as urgent (and necessary) a defense of basic science as ever. Vaccination, we learn, is derived from vacca —for cow—after the 17th-century discovery that a small application of cowpox was often enough to inoculate against the scourge of smallpox, an etymological digression that belies modern conspiratorial fears of Big Pharma and its vaccination agenda. But Biss never scolds or belittles the fears of others, and in her generosity and openness pulls off a neat (and important) trick: insofar as we are of the very world we fear, she seems to be suggesting, we ourselves are impure, have always been so, permeable, vulnerable, yet so much stronger than we think.  –Jonny Diamond, Editor-in-Chief 

Rebecca Solnit, The Mother of All Questions (2016)

When Rebecca Solnit’s essay, “Men Explain Things to Me,” was published in 2008, it quickly became a cultural phenomenon unlike almost any other in recent memory, assigning language to a behavior that almost every woman has witnessed—mansplaining—and, in the course of identifying that behavior, spurring a movement, online and offline, to share the ways in which patriarchal arrogance has intersected all our lives. (It would also come to be the titular essay in her collection published in 2014.) The Mother of All Questions follows up on that work and takes it further in order to examine the nature of self-expression—who is afforded it and denied it, what institutions have been put in place to limit it, and what happens when it is employed by women. Solnit has a singular gift for describing and decoding the misogynistic dynamics that govern the world so universally that they can seem invisible and the gendered violence that is so common as to seem unremarkable; this naming is powerful, and it opens space for sharing the stories that shape our lives.

The Mother of All Questions, comprised of essays written between 2014 and 2016, in many ways armed us with some of the tools necessary to survive the gaslighting of the Trump years, in which many of us—and especially women—have continued to hear from those in power that the things we see and hear do not exist and never existed. Solnit also acknowledges that labels like “woman,” and other gendered labels, are identities that are fluid in reality; in reviewing the book for The New Yorker , Moira Donegan suggested that, “One useful working definition of a woman might be ‘someone who experiences misogyny.'” Whichever words we use, Solnit writes in the introduction to the book that “when words break through unspeakability, what was tolerated by a society sometimes becomes intolerable.” This storytelling work has always been vital; it continues to be vital, and in this book, it is brilliantly done.  –Corinne Segal, Senior Editor

Valeria Luiselli, Tell Me How It Ends (2017)

The newly minted MacArthur fellow Valeria Luiselli’s four-part (but really six-part) essay  Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in Forty Questions  was inspired by her time spent volunteering at the federal immigration court in New York City, working as an interpreter for undocumented, unaccompanied migrant children who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border. Written concurrently with her novel  Lost Children Archive  (a fictional exploration of the same topic), Luiselli’s essay offers a fascinating conceit, the fashioning of an argument from the questions on the government intake form given to these children to process their arrivals. (Aside from the fact that this essay is a heartbreaking masterpiece, this is such a  good  conceit—transforming a cold, reproducible administrative document into highly personal literature.) Luiselli interweaves a grounded discussion of the questionnaire with a narrative of the road trip Luiselli takes with her husband and family, across America, while they (both Mexican citizens) wait for their own Green Card applications to be processed. It is on this trip when Luiselli reflects on the thousands of migrant children mysteriously traveling across the border by themselves. But the real point of the essay is to actually delve into the real stories of some of these children, which are agonizing, as well as to gravely, clearly expose what literally happens, procedural, when they do arrive—from forms to courts, as they’re swallowed by a bureaucratic vortex. Amid all of this, Luiselli also takes on more, exploring the larger contextual relationship between the United States of America and Mexico (as well as other countries in Central America, more broadly) as it has evolved to our current, adverse moment.  Tell Me How It Ends  is so small, but it is so passionate and vigorous: it desperately accomplishes in its less-than-100-pages-of-prose what centuries and miles and endless records of federal bureaucracy have never been able, and have never cared, to do: reverse the dehumanization of Latin American immigrants that occurs once they set foot in this country.  –Olivia Rutigliano, CrimeReads Editorial Fellow

Zadie Smith, Feel Free (2018)

In the essay “Meet Justin Bieber!” in Feel Free , Zadie Smith writes that her interest in Justin Bieber is not an interest in the interiority of the singer himself, but in “the idea of the love object”. This essay—in which Smith imagines a meeting between Bieber and the late philosopher Martin Buber (“Bieber and Buber are alternative spellings of the same German surname,” she explains in one of many winning footnotes. “Who am I to ignore these hints from the universe?”). Smith allows that this premise is a bit premise -y: “I know, I know.” Still, the resulting essay is a very funny, very smart, and un-tricky exploration of individuality and true “meeting,” with a dash of late capitalism thrown in for good measure. The melding of high and low culture is the bread and butter of pretty much every prestige publication on the internet these days (and certainly of the Twitter feeds of all “public intellectuals”), but the essays in Smith’s collection don’t feel familiar—perhaps because hers is, as we’ve long known, an uncommon skill. Though I believe Smith could probably write compellingly about anything, she chooses her subjects wisely. She writes with as much electricity about Brexit as the aforementioned Beliebers—and each essay is utterly engrossing. “She contains multitudes, but her point is we all do,” writes Hermione Hoby in her review of the collection in The New Republic . “At the same time, we are, in our endless difference, nobody but ourselves.”  –Jessie Gaynor, Social Media Editor

Tressie McMillan Cottom, Thick: And Other Essays (2019)

Tressie McMillan Cottom is an academic who has transcended the ivory tower to become the sort of public intellectual who can easily appear on radio or television talk shows to discuss race, gender, and capitalism. Her collection of essays reflects this duality, blending scholarly work with memoir to create a collection on the black female experience in postmodern America that’s “intersectional analysis with a side of pop culture.” The essays range from an analysis of sexual violence, to populist politics, to social media, but in centering her own experiences throughout, the collection becomes something unlike other pieces of criticism of contemporary culture. In explaining the title, she reflects on what an editor had said about her work: “I was too readable to be academic, too deep to be popular, too country black to be literary, and too naïve to show the rigor of my thinking in the complexity of my prose. I had wanted to create something meaningful that sounded not only like me, but like all of me. It was too thick.” One of the most powerful essays in the book is “Dying to be Competent” which begins with her unpacking the idiocy of LinkedIn (and the myth of meritocracy) and ends with a description of her miscarriage, the mishandling of black woman’s pain, and a condemnation of healthcare bureaucracy. A finalist for the 2019 National Book Award for Nonfiction, Thick confirms McMillan Cottom as one of our most fearless public intellectuals and one of the most vital.  –Emily Firetog, Deputy Editor

Dissenting Opinions

The following books were just barely nudged out of the top ten, but we (or at least one of us) couldn’t let them pass without comment.

Elif Batuman, The Possessed (2010)

In The Possessed Elif Batuman indulges her love of Russian literature and the result is hilarious and remarkable. Each essay of the collection chronicles some adventure or other that she had while in graduate school for Comparative Literature and each is more unpredictable than the next. There’s the time a “well-known 20th-centuryist” gave a graduate student the finger; and the time when Batuman ended up living in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, for a summer; and the time that she convinced herself Tolstoy was murdered and spent the length of the Tolstoy Conference in Yasnaya Polyana considering clues and motives. Rich in historic detail about Russian authors and literature and thoughtfully constructed, each essay is an amalgam of critical analysis, cultural criticism, and serious contemplation of big ideas like that of identity, intellectual legacy, and authorship. With wit and a serpentine-like shape to her narratives, Batuman adopts a form reminiscent of a Socratic discourse, setting up questions at the beginning of her essays and then following digressions that more or less entreat the reader to synthesize the answer for herself. The digressions are always amusing and arguably the backbone of the collection, relaying absurd anecdotes with foreign scholars or awkward, surreal encounters with Eastern European strangers. Central also to the collection are Batuman’s intellectual asides where she entertains a theory—like the “problem of the person”: the inability to ever wholly capture one’s character—that ultimately layer the book’s themes. “You are certainly my most entertaining student,” a professor said to Batuman. But she is also curious and enthusiastic and reflective and so knowledgeable that she might even convince you (she has me!) that you too love Russian literature as much as she does. –Eleni Theodoropoulos, Editorial Fellow

Roxane Gay, Bad Feminist (2014)

Roxane Gay’s now-classic essay collection is a book that will make you laugh, think, cry, and then wonder, how can cultural criticism be this fun? My favorite essays in the book include Gay’s musings on competitive Scrabble, her stranded-in-academia dispatches, and her joyous film and television criticism, but given the breadth of topics Roxane Gay can discuss in an entertaining manner, there’s something for everyone in this one. This book is accessible because feminism itself should be accessible – Roxane Gay is as likely to draw inspiration from YA novels, or middle-brow shows about friendship, as she is to introduce concepts from the academic world, and if there’s anyone I trust to bridge the gap between high culture, low culture, and pop culture, it’s the Goddess of Twitter. I used to host a book club dedicated to radical reads, and this was one of the first picks for the club; a week after the book club met, I spied a few of the attendees meeting in the café of the bookstore, and found out that they had bonded so much over discussing  Bad Feminist  that they couldn’t wait for the next meeting of the book club to keep discussing politics and intersectionality, and that, in a nutshell, is the power of Roxane. –Molly Odintz, CrimeReads Associate Editor

Rivka Galchen, Little Labors (2016)

Generally, I find stories about the trials and tribulations of child-having to be of limited appeal—useful, maybe, insofar as they offer validation that other people have also endured the bizarre realities of living with a tiny human, but otherwise liable to drift into the musings of parents thrilled at the simple fact of their own fecundity, as if they were the first ones to figure the process out (or not). But Little Labors is not simply an essay collection about motherhood, perhaps because Galchen initially “didn’t want to write about” her new baby—mostly, she writes, “because I had never been interested in babies, or mothers; in fact, those subjects had seemed perfectly not interesting to me.” Like many new mothers, though, Galchen soon discovered her baby—which she refers to sometimes as “the puma”—to be a preoccupying thought, demanding to be written about. Galchen’s interest isn’t just in her own progeny, but in babies in literature (“Literature has more dogs than babies, and also more abortions”), The Pillow Book , the eleventh-century collection of musings by Sei Shōnagon, and writers who are mothers. There are sections that made me laugh out loud, like when Galchen continually finds herself in an elevator with a neighbor who never fails to remark on the puma’s size. There are also deeper, darker musings, like the realization that the baby means “that it’s not permissible to die. There are days when this does not feel good.” It is a slim collection that I happened to read at the perfect time, and it remains one of my favorites of the decade. –Emily Firetog, Deputy Editor

Charlie Fox, This Young Monster (2017)

On social media as in his writing, British art critic Charlie Fox rejects lucidity for allusion and doesn’t quite answer the Twitter textbox’s persistent question: “What’s happening?” These days, it’s hard to tell.  This Young Monster  (2017), Fox’s first book,was published a few months after Donald Trump’s election, and at one point Fox takes a swipe at a man he judges “direct from a nightmare and just a repulsive fucking goon.” Fox doesn’t linger on politics, though, since most of the monsters he looks at “embody otherness and make it into art, ripping any conventional idea of beauty to shreds and replacing it with something weird and troubling of their own invention.”

If clichés are loathed because they conform to what philosopher Georges Bataille called “the common measure,” then monsters are rebellious non-sequiturs, comedic or horrific derailments from a classical ideal. Perverts in the most literal sense, monsters have gone astray from some “proper” course. The book’s nine chapters, which are about a specific monster or type of monster, are full of callbacks to familiar and lesser-known media. Fox cites visual art, film, songs, and books with the screwy buoyancy of a savant. Take one of his essays, “Spook House,” framed as a stage play with two principal characters, Klaus (“an intoxicated young skinhead vampire”) and Hermione (“a teen sorceress with green skin and jet-black hair” who looks more like The Wicked Witch than her namesake). The chorus is a troupe of trick-or-treaters. Using the filmmaker Cameron Jamie as a starting point, the rest is free association on gothic decadence and Detroit and L.A. as cities of the dead. All the while, Klaus quotes from  Artforum ,  Dazed & Confused , and  Time Out. It’s a technical feat that makes fictionalized dialogue a conveyor belt for cultural criticism.

In Fox’s imagination, David Bowie and the Hydra coexist alongside Peter Pan, Dennis Hopper, and the maenads. Fox’s book reaches for the monster’s mask, not really to peel it off but to feel and smell the rubber schnoz, to know how it’s made before making sure it’s still snugly set. With a stylistic blend of arthouse suavity and B-movie chic,  This Young Monster considers how monsters in culture are made. Aren’t the scariest things made in post-production? Isn’t the creature just duplicity, like a looping choir or a dubbed scream? –Aaron Robertson, Assistant Editor

Elena Passarello, Animals Strike Curious Poses (2017)

Elena Passarello’s collection of essays Animals Strike Curious Poses picks out infamous animals and grants them the voice, narrative, and history they deserve. Not only is a collection like this relevant during the sixth extinction but it is an ambitious historical and anthropological undertaking, which Passarello has tackled with thorough research and a playful tone that rather than compromise her subject, complicates and humanizes it. Passarello’s intention is to investigate the role of animals across the span of human civilization and in doing so, to construct a timeline of humanity as told through people’s interactions with said animals. “Of all the images that make our world, animal images are particularly buried inside us,” Passarello writes in her first essay, to introduce us to the object of the book and also to the oldest of her chosen characters: Yuka, a 39,000-year-old mummified woolly mammoth discovered in the Siberian permafrost in 2010. It was an occasion so remarkable and so unfathomable given the span of human civilization that Passarello says of Yuka: “Since language is epically younger than both thought and experience, ‘woolly mammoth’ means, to a human brain, something more like time.” The essay ends with a character placing a hand on a cave drawing of a woolly mammoth, accompanied by a phrase which encapsulates the author’s vision for the book: “And he becomes the mammoth so he can envision the mammoth.” In Passarello’s hands the imagined boundaries between the animal, natural, and human world disintegrate and what emerges is a cohesive if baffling integrated history of life. With the accuracy and tenacity of a journalist and the spirit of a storyteller, Elena Passarello has assembled a modern bestiary worthy of contemplation and awe. –Eleni Theodoropoulos, Editorial Fellow

Esmé Weijun Wang, The Collected Schizophrenias (2019)

Esmé Weijun Wang’s collection of essays is a kaleidoscopic look at mental health and the lives affected by the schizophrenias. Each essay takes on a different aspect of the topic, but you’ll want to read them together for a holistic perspective. Esmé Weijun Wang generously begins The Collected Schizophrenias by acknowledging the stereotype, “Schizophrenia terrifies. It is the archetypal disorder of lunacy.” From there, she walks us through the technical language, breaks down the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual ( DSM-5 )’s clinical definition. And then she gets very personal, telling us about how she came to her own diagnosis and the way it’s touched her daily life (her relationships, her ideas about motherhood). Esmé Weijun Wang is uniquely situated to write about this topic. As a former lab researcher at Stanford, she turns a precise, analytical eye to her experience while simultaneously unfolding everything with great patience for her reader. Throughout, she brilliantly dissects the language around mental health. (On saying “a person living with bipolar disorder” instead of using “bipolar” as the sole subject: “…we are not our diseases. We are instead individuals with disorders and malfunctions. Our conditions lie over us like smallpox blankets; we are one thing and the illness is another.”) She pinpoints the ways she arms herself against anticipated reactions to the schizophrenias: high fashion, having attended an Ivy League institution. In a particularly piercing essay, she traces mental illness back through her family tree. She also places her story within more mainstream cultural contexts, calling on groundbreaking exposés about the dangerous of institutionalization and depictions of mental illness in television and film (like the infamous Slender Man case, in which two young girls stab their best friend because an invented Internet figure told them to). At once intimate and far-reaching, The Collected Schizophrenias is an informative and important (and let’s not forget artful) work. I’ve never read a collection quite so beautifully-written and laid-bare as this. –Katie Yee, Book Marks Assistant Editor

Ross Gay, The Book of Delights (2019)

When Ross Gay began writing what would become The Book of Delights, he envisioned it as a project of daily essays, each focused on a moment or point of delight in his day. This plan quickly disintegrated; on day four, he skipped his self-imposed assignment and decided to “in honor and love, delight in blowing it off.” (Clearly, “blowing it off” is a relative term here, as he still produced the book.) Ross Gay is a generous teacher of how to live, and this moment of reveling in self-compassion is one lesson among many in The Book of Delights , which wanders from moments of connection with strangers to a shade of “red I don’t think I actually have words for,” a text from a friend reading “I love you breadfruit,” and “the sun like a guiding hand on my back, saying everything is possible. Everything .”

Gay does not linger on any one subject for long, creating the sense that delight is a product not of extenuating circumstances, but of our attention; his attunement to the possibilities of a single day, and awareness of all the small moments that produce delight, are a model for life amid the warring factions of the attention economy. These small moments range from the physical–hugging a stranger, transplanting fig cuttings–to the spiritual and philosophical, giving the impression of sitting beside Gay in his garden as he thinks out loud in real time. It’s a privilege to listen. –Corinne Segal, Senior Editor

Honorable Mentions

A selection of other books that we seriously considered for both lists—just to be extra about it (and because decisions are hard).

Terry Castle, The Professor and Other Writings (2010) · Joyce Carol Oates, In Rough Country (2010) · Geoff Dyer, Otherwise Known as the Human Condition (2011) · Christopher Hitchens, Arguably (2011) ·  Roberto Bolaño, tr. Natasha Wimmer, Between Parentheses (2011) · Dubravka Ugresic, tr. David Williams, Karaoke Culture (2011) · Tom Bissell, Magic Hours (2012)  · Kevin Young, The Grey Album (2012) · William H. Gass, Life Sentences: Literary Judgments and Accounts (2012) · Mary Ruefle, Madness, Rack, and Honey (2012) · Herta Müller, tr. Geoffrey Mulligan, Cristina and Her Double (2013) · Leslie Jamison, The Empathy Exams (2014)  · Meghan Daum, The Unspeakable (2014)  · Daphne Merkin, The Fame Lunches (2014)  · Charles D’Ambrosio, Loitering (2015) · Wendy Walters, Multiply/Divide (2015) · Colm Tóibín, On Elizabeth Bishop (2015) ·  Renee Gladman, Calamities (2016)  · Jesmyn Ward, ed. The Fire This Time (2016)  · Lindy West, Shrill (2016)  · Mary Oliver, Upstream (2016)  · Emily Witt, Future Sex (2016)  · Olivia Laing, The Lonely City (2016)  · Mark Greif, Against Everything (2016)  · Durga Chew-Bose, Too Much and Not the Mood (2017)  · Sarah Gerard, Sunshine State (2017)  · Jim Harrison, A Really Big Lunch (2017)  · J.M. Coetzee, Late Essays: 2006-2017 (2017) · Melissa Febos, Abandon Me (2017)  · Louise Glück, American Originality (2017)  · Joan Didion, South and West (2017)  · Tom McCarthy, Typewriters, Bombs, Jellyfish (2017)  · Hanif Abdurraqib, They Can’t Kill Us Until they Kill Us (2017)  · Ta-Nehisi Coates, We Were Eight Years in Power (2017)  ·  Samantha Irby, We Are Never Meeting in Real Life (2017)  · Alexander Chee, How to Write an Autobiographical Novel (2018)  · Alice Bolin, Dead Girls (2018)  · Marilynne Robinson, What Are We Doing Here? (2018)  · Lorrie Moore, See What Can Be Done (2018)  · Maggie O’Farrell, I Am I Am I Am (2018)  · Ijeoma Oluo, So You Want to Talk About Race (2018)  · Rachel Cusk, Coventry (2019)  · Jia Tolentino, Trick Mirror (2019)  · Emily Bernard, Black is the Body (2019)  · Toni Morrison, The Source of Self-Regard (2019)  · Margaret Renkl, Late Migrations (2019)  ·  Rachel Munroe, Savage Appetites (2019)  · Robert A. Caro,  Working  (2019) · Arundhati Roy, My Seditious Heart (2019).

Emily Temple

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50 Must-Read Contemporary Essay Collections

Liberty Hardy

Liberty Hardy is an unrepentant velocireader, writer, bitey mad lady, and tattoo canvas. Turn-ons include books, books and books. Her favorite exclamation is “Holy cats!” Liberty reads more than should be legal, sleeps very little, frequently writes on her belly with Sharpie markers, and when she dies, she’s leaving her body to library science. Until then, she lives with her three cats, Millay, Farrokh, and Zevon, in Maine. She is also right behind you. Just kidding! She’s too busy reading. Twitter: @MissLiberty

View All posts by Liberty Hardy

I feel like essay collections don’t get enough credit. They’re so wonderful! They’re like short story collections, but TRUE. It’s like going to a truth buffet. You can get information about sooooo many topics, sometimes in one single book! To prove that there are a zillion amazing essay collections out there, I compiled 50 great contemporary essay collections, just from the last 18 months alone.  Ranging in topics from food, nature, politics, sex, celebrity, and more, there is something here for everyone!

I’ve included a brief description from the publisher with each title. Tell us in the comments about which of these you’ve read or other contemporary essay collections that you love. There are a LOT of them. Yay, books!

Must-Read Contemporary Essay Collections

They can’t kill us until they kill us  by hanif abdurraqib.

“In an age of confusion, fear, and loss, Hanif Willis-Abdurraqib’s is a voice that matters. Whether he’s attending a Bruce Springsteen concert the day after visiting Michael Brown’s grave, or discussing public displays of affection at a Carly Rae Jepsen show, he writes with a poignancy and magnetism that resonates profoundly.”

Would Everybody Please Stop?: Reflections on Life and Other Bad Ideas  by Jenny Allen

“Jenny Allen’s musings range fluidly from the personal to the philosophical. She writes with the familiarity of someone telling a dinner party anecdote, forgoing decorum for candor and comedy. To read  Would Everybody Please Stop?  is to experience life with imaginative and incisive humor.”

Longthroat Memoirs: Soups, Sex and Nigerian Taste Buds  by Yemisi Aribisala

“A sumptuous menu of essays about Nigerian cuisine, lovingly presented by the nation’s top epicurean writer. As well as a mouth-watering appraisal of Nigerian food,  Longthroat Memoirs  is a series of love letters to the Nigerian palate. From the cultural history of soup, to fish as aphrodisiac and the sensual allure of snails,  Longthroat Memoirs  explores the complexities, the meticulousness, and the tactile joy of Nigerian gastronomy.”

Beyond Measure: Essays  by Rachel Z. Arndt

“ Beyond Measure  is a fascinating exploration of the rituals, routines, metrics and expectations through which we attempt to quantify and ascribe value to our lives. With mordant humor and penetrating intellect, Arndt casts her gaze beyond event-driven narratives to the machinery underlying them: judo competitions measured in weigh-ins and wait times; the significance of the elliptical’s stationary churn; the rote scripts of dating apps; the stupefying sameness of the daily commute.”

Magic Hours  by Tom Bissell

“Award-winning essayist Tom Bissell explores the highs and lows of the creative process. He takes us from the set of  The Big Bang Theory  to the first novel of Ernest Hemingway to the final work of David Foster Wallace; from the films of Werner Herzog to the film of Tommy Wiseau to the editorial meeting in which Paula Fox’s work was relaunched into the world. Originally published in magazines such as  The Believer ,  The New Yorker , and  Harper’s , these essays represent ten years of Bissell’s best writing on every aspect of creation—be it Iraq War documentaries or video-game character voices—and will provoke as much thought as they do laughter.”

Dead Girls: Essays on Surviving an American Obsession  by Alice Bolin

“In this poignant collection, Alice Bolin examines iconic American works from the essays of Joan Didion and James Baldwin to  Twin Peaks , Britney Spears, and  Serial , illuminating the widespread obsession with women who are abused, killed, and disenfranchised, and whose bodies (dead and alive) are used as props to bolster men’s stories. Smart and accessible, thoughtful and heartfelt, Bolin investigates the implications of our cultural fixations, and her own role as a consumer and creator.”

Betwixt-and-Between: Essays on the Writing Life  by Jenny Boully

“Jenny Boully’s essays are ripe with romance and sensual pleasures, drawing connections between the digression, reflection, imagination, and experience that characterizes falling in love as well as the life of a writer. Literary theory, philosophy, and linguistics rub up against memory, dreamscapes, and fancy, making the practice of writing a metaphor for the illusory nature of experience.  Betwixt and Between  is, in many ways, simply a book about how to live.”

Wedding Toasts I’ll Never Give by Ada Calhoun

“In  Wedding Toasts I’ll Never Give , Ada Calhoun presents an unflinching but also loving portrait of her own marriage, opening a long-overdue conversation about the institution as it truly is: not the happy ending of a love story or a relic doomed by high divorce rates, but the beginning of a challenging new chapter of which ‘the first twenty years are the hardest.'”

How to Write an Autobiographical Novel: Essays  by Alexander Chee

“ How to Write an Autobiographical Novel  is the author’s manifesto on the entangling of life, literature, and politics, and how the lessons learned from a life spent reading and writing fiction have changed him. In these essays, he grows from student to teacher, reader to writer, and reckons with his identities as a son, a gay man, a Korean American, an artist, an activist, a lover, and a friend. He examines some of the most formative experiences of his life and the nation’s history, including his father’s death, the AIDS crisis, 9/11, the jobs that supported his writing—Tarot-reading, bookselling, cater-waiting for William F. Buckley—the writing of his first novel,  Edinburgh , and the election of Donald Trump.”

Too Much and Not the Mood: Essays  by Durga Chew-Bose

“ Too Much and Not the Mood is a beautiful and surprising exploration of what it means to be a first-generation, creative young woman working today. On April 11, 1931, Virginia Woolf ended her entry in A Writer’s Diary with the words ‘too much and not the mood’ to describe her frustration with placating her readers, what she described as the ‘cramming in and the cutting out.’ She wondered if she had anything at all that was truly worth saying. The attitude of that sentiment inspired Durga Chew-Bose to gather own writing in this lyrical collection of poetic essays that examine personhood and artistic growth. Drawing inspiration from a diverse group of incisive and inquiring female authors, Chew-Bose captures the inner restlessness that keeps her always on the brink of creative expression.”

We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy  by Ta-Nehisi Coates

“‘We were eight years in power’ was the lament of Reconstruction-era black politicians as the American experiment in multiracial democracy ended with the return of white supremacist rule in the South. In this sweeping collection of new and selected essays, Ta-Nehisi Coates explores the tragic echoes of that history in our own time: the unprecedented election of a black president followed by a vicious backlash that fueled the election of the man Coates argues is America’s ‘first white president.'”

Look Alive Out There: Essays by Sloane Crosley

“In  Look Alive Out There,  whether it’s scaling active volcanoes, crashing shivas, playing herself on  Gossip Girl,  befriending swingers, or squinting down the barrel of the fertility gun, Crosley continues to rise to the occasion with unmatchable nerve and electric one-liners. And as her subjects become more serious, her essays deliver not just laughs but lasting emotional heft and insight. Crosley has taken up the gauntlets thrown by her predecessors—Dorothy Parker, Nora Ephron, David Sedaris—and crafted something rare, affecting, and true.”

Fl â neuse: Women Walk the City in Paris, New York, Tokyo, Venice, and London  by Lauren Elkin

“Part cultural meander, part memoir,  Flâneuse  takes us on a distinctly cosmopolitan jaunt that begins in New York, where Elkin grew up, and transports us to Paris via Venice, Tokyo, and London, all cities in which she’s lived. We are shown the paths beaten by such  flâneuses  as the cross-dressing nineteenth-century novelist George Sand, the Parisian artist Sophie Calle, the wartime correspondent Martha Gellhorn, and the writer Jean Rhys. With tenacity and insight, Elkin creates a mosaic of what urban settings have meant to women, charting through literature, art, history, and film the sometimes exhilarating, sometimes fraught relationship that women have with the metropolis.”

Idiophone  by Amy Fusselman

“Leaping from ballet to quiltmaking, from the The Nutcracker to an Annie-B Parson interview,  Idiophone  is a strikingly original meditation on risk-taking and provocation in art and a unabashedly honest, funny, and intimate consideration of art-making in the context of motherhood, and motherhood in the context of addiction. Amy Fusselman’s compact, beautifully digressive essay feels both surprising and effortless, fueled by broad-ranging curiosity, and, fundamentally, joy.”

Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture  by Roxane Gay

“In this valuable and revealing anthology, cultural critic and bestselling author Roxane Gay collects original and previously published pieces that address what it means to live in a world where women have to measure the harassment, violence, and aggression they face, and where they are ‘routinely second-guessed, blown off, discredited, denigrated, besmirched, belittled, patronized, mocked, shamed, gaslit, insulted, bullied’ for speaking out.”

Sunshine State: Essays  by Sarah Gerard

“With the personal insight of  The Empathy Exams , the societal exposal of  Nickel and Dimed , and the stylistic innovation and intensity of her own break-out debut novel  Binary Star , Sarah Gerard’s  Sunshine State  uses the intimately personal to unearth the deep reservoirs of humanity buried in the corners of our world often hardest to face.”

The Art of the Wasted Day  by Patricia Hampl

“ The Art of the Wasted Day  is a picaresque travelogue of leisure written from a lifelong enchantment with solitude. Patricia Hampl visits the homes of historic exemplars of ease who made repose a goal, even an art form. She begins with two celebrated eighteenth-century Irish ladies who ran off to live a life of ‘retirement’ in rural Wales. Her search then leads to Moravia to consider the monk-geneticist, Gregor Mendel, and finally to Bordeaux for Michel Montaigne—the hero of this book—who retreated from court life to sit in his chateau tower and write about whatever passed through his mind, thus inventing the personal essay.”

A Really Big Lunch: The Roving Gourmand on Food and Life  by Jim Harrison

“Jim Harrison’s legendary gourmandise is on full display in  A Really Big Lunch . From the titular  New Yorker  piece about a French lunch that went to thirty-seven courses, to pieces from  Brick ,  Playboy , Kermit Lynch Newsletter, and more on the relationship between hunter and prey, or the obscure language of wine reviews,  A Really Big Lunch  is shot through with Harrison’s pointed aperçus and keen delight in the pleasures of the senses. And between the lines the pieces give glimpses of Harrison’s life over the last three decades.  A Really Big Lunch  is a literary delight that will satisfy every appetite.”

Insomniac City: New York, Oliver, and Me  by Bill Hayes

“Bill Hayes came to New York City in 2009 with a one-way ticket and only the vaguest idea of how he would get by. But, at forty-eight years old, having spent decades in San Francisco, he craved change. Grieving over the death of his partner, he quickly discovered the profound consolations of the city’s incessant rhythms, the sight of the Empire State Building against the night sky, and New Yorkers themselves, kindred souls that Hayes, a lifelong insomniac, encountered on late-night strolls with his camera.”

Would You Rather?: A Memoir of Growing Up and Coming Out  by Katie Heaney

“Here, for the first time, Katie opens up about realizing at the age of twenty-eight that she is gay. In these poignant, funny essays, she wrestles with her shifting sexuality and identity, and describes what it was like coming out to everyone she knows (and everyone she doesn’t). As she revisits her past, looking for any ‘clues’ that might have predicted this outcome, Katie reveals that life doesn’t always move directly from point A to point B—no matter how much we would like it to.”

Tonight I’m Someone Else: Essays  by Chelsea Hodson

“From graffiti gangs and  Grand Theft Auto  to sugar daddies, Schopenhauer, and a deadly game of Russian roulette, in these essays, Chelsea Hodson probes her own desires to examine where the physical and the proprietary collide. She asks what our privacy, our intimacy, and our own bodies are worth in the increasingly digital world of liking, linking, and sharing.”

We Are Never Meeting in Real Life.: Essays  by Samantha Irby

“With  We Are Never Meeting in Real Life. , ‘bitches gotta eat’ blogger and comedian Samantha Irby turns the serio-comic essay into an art form. Whether talking about how her difficult childhood has led to a problem in making ‘adult’ budgets, explaining why she should be the new Bachelorette—she’s ’35-ish, but could easily pass for 60-something’—detailing a disastrous pilgrimage-slash-romantic-vacation to Nashville to scatter her estranged father’s ashes, sharing awkward sexual encounters, or dispensing advice on how to navigate friendships with former drinking buddies who are now suburban moms—hang in there for the Costco loot—she’s as deft at poking fun at the ghosts of her past self as she is at capturing powerful emotional truths.”

This Will Be My Undoing: Living at the Intersection of Black, Female, and Feminist in (White) America  by Morgan Jerkins

“Doubly disenfranchised by race and gender, often deprived of a place within the mostly white mainstream feminist movement, black women are objectified, silenced, and marginalized with devastating consequences, in ways both obvious and subtle, that are rarely acknowledged in our country’s larger discussion about inequality. In  This Will Be My Undoing , Jerkins becomes both narrator and subject to expose the social, cultural, and historical story of black female oppression that influences the black community as well as the white, male-dominated world at large.”

Everywhere Home: A Life in Essays  by Fenton Johnson

“Part retrospective, part memoir, Fenton Johnson’s collection  Everywhere Home: A Life in Essays  explores sexuality, religion, geography, the AIDS crisis, and more. Johnson’s wanderings take him from the hills of Kentucky to those of San Francisco, from the streets of Paris to the sidewalks of Calcutta. Along the way, he investigates questions large and small: What’s the relationship between artists and museums, illuminated in a New Guinean display of shrunken heads? What’s the difference between empiricism and intuition?”

One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter: Essays  by Scaachi Koul

“In  One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter , Scaachi Koul deploys her razor-sharp humor to share all the fears, outrages, and mortifying moments of her life. She learned from an early age what made her miserable, and for Scaachi anything can be cause for despair. Whether it’s a shopping trip gone awry; enduring awkward conversations with her bikini waxer; overcoming her fear of flying while vacationing halfway around the world; dealing with Internet trolls, or navigating the fears and anxieties of her parents. Alongside these personal stories are pointed observations about life as a woman of color: where every aspect of her appearance is open for critique, derision, or outright scorn; where strict gender rules bind in both Western and Indian cultures, leaving little room for a woman not solely focused on marriage and children to have a career (and a life) for herself.”

Tell Me How It Ends: An Essay in 40 Questions  by Valeria Luiselli and jon lee anderson (translator)

“A damning confrontation between the American dream and the reality of undocumented children seeking a new life in the U.S. Structured around the 40 questions Luiselli translates and asks undocumented Latin American children facing deportation,  Tell Me How It Ends  (an expansion of her 2016 Freeman’s essay of the same name) humanizes these young migrants and highlights the contradiction between the idea of America as a fiction for immigrants and the reality of racism and fear—both here and back home.”

All the Lives I Want: Essays About My Best Friends Who Happen to Be Famous Strangers  by Alana Massey

“Mixing Didion’s affected cool with moments of giddy celebrity worship, Massey examines the lives of the women who reflect our greatest aspirations and darkest fears back onto us. These essays are personal without being confessional and clever in a way that invites readers into the joke. A cultural critique and a finely wrought fan letter, interwoven with stories that are achingly personal, All the Lives I Want is also an exploration of mental illness, the sex industry, and the dangers of loving too hard.”

Typewriters, Bombs, Jellyfish: Essays  by Tom McCarthy

“Certain points of reference recur with dreamlike insistence—among them the artist Ed Ruscha’s  Royal Road Test , a photographic documentation of the roadside debris of a Royal typewriter hurled from the window of a traveling car; the great blooms of jellyfish that are filling the oceans and gumming up the machinery of commerce and military domination—and the question throughout is: How can art explode the restraining conventions of so-called realism, whether aesthetic or political, to engage in the active reinvention of the world?”

Nasty Women: Feminism, Resistance, and Revolution in Trump’s America  by Samhita Mukhopadhyay and Kate Harding

“When 53 percent of white women voted for Donald Trump and 94 percent of black women voted for Hillary Clinton, how can women unite in Trump’s America? Nasty Women includes inspiring essays from a diverse group of talented women writers who seek to provide a broad look at how we got here and what we need to do to move forward.”

Don’t Call Me Princess: Essays on Girls, Women, Sex, and Life  by Peggy Orenstein

“Named one of the ’40 women who changed the media business in the last 40 years’ by  Columbia Journalism Review , Peggy Orenstein is one of the most prominent, unflinching feminist voices of our time. Her writing has broken ground and broken silences on topics as wide-ranging as miscarriage, motherhood, breast cancer, princess culture and the importance of girls’ sexual pleasure. Her unique blend of investigative reporting, personal revelation and unexpected humor has made her books bestselling classics.”

When You Find Out the World Is Against You: And Other Funny Memories About Awful Moments  by Kelly Oxford

“Kelly Oxford likes to blow up the internet. Whether it is with the kind of Tweets that lead  Rolling Stone  to name her one of the Funniest People on Twitter or with pictures of her hilariously adorable family (human and animal) or with something much more serious, like creating the hashtag #NotOkay, where millions of women came together to share their stories of sexual assault, Kelly has a unique, razor-sharp perspective on modern life. As a screen writer, professional sh*t disturber, wife and mother of three, Kelly is about everything but the status quo.”

Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud: The Rise and Reign of the Unruly Woman  by Anne Helen Petersen

“You know the type: the woman who won’t shut up, who’s too brazen, too opinionated—too much. She’s the unruly woman, and she embodies one of the most provocative and powerful forms of womanhood today. In  Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud , Anne Helen Petersen uses the lens of ‘unruliness’ to explore the ascension of pop culture powerhouses like Lena Dunham, Nicki Minaj, and Kim Kardashian, exploring why the public loves to love (and hate) these controversial figures. With its brisk, incisive analysis,  Too Fat, Too Slutty, Too Loud  will be a conversation-starting book on what makes and breaks celebrity today.”

Well, That Escalated Quickly: Memoirs and Mistakes of an Accidental Activist  by Franchesca Ramsey

“In her first book, Ramsey uses her own experiences as an accidental activist to explore the many ways we communicate with each other—from the highs of bridging gaps and making connections to the many pitfalls that accompany talking about race, power, sexuality, and gender in an unpredictable public space…the internet.”

Shrewed: A Wry and Closely Observed Look at the Lives of Women and Girls  by Elizabeth Renzetti

“Drawing upon Renzetti’s decades of reporting on feminist issues,  Shrewed  is a book about feminism’s crossroads. From Hillary Clinton’s failed campaign to the quest for equal pay, from the lessons we can learn from old ladies to the future of feminism in a turbulent world, Renzetti takes a pointed, witty look at how far we’ve come—and how far we have to go.”

What Are We Doing Here?: Essays  by Marilynne Robinson

“In this new essay collection she trains her incisive mind on our modern political climate and the mysteries of faith. Whether she is investigating how the work of great thinkers about America like Emerson and Tocqueville inform our political consciousness or discussing the way that beauty informs and disciplines daily life, Robinson’s peerless prose and boundless humanity are on full display.”

Double Bind: Women on Ambition  by Robin Romm

“‘A work of courage and ferocious honesty’ (Diana Abu-Jaber),  Double Bind  could not come at a more urgent time. Even as major figures from Gloria Steinem to Beyoncé embrace the word ‘feminism,’ the word ‘ambition’ remains loaded with ambivalence. Many women see it as synonymous with strident or aggressive, yet most feel compelled to strive and achieve—the seeming contradiction leaving them in a perpetual double bind. Ayana Mathis, Molly Ringwald, Roxane Gay, and a constellation of ‘nimble thinkers . . . dismantle this maddening paradox’ ( O, The Oprah Magazine ) with candor, wit, and rage. Women who have made landmark achievements in fields as diverse as law, dog sledding, and butchery weigh in, breaking the last feminist taboo once and for all.”

The Destiny Thief: Essays on Writing, Writers and Life  by Richard Russo

“In these nine essays, Richard Russo provides insight into his life as a writer, teacher, friend, and reader. From a commencement speech he gave at Colby College, to the story of how an oddly placed toilet made him reevaluate the purpose of humor in art and life, to a comprehensive analysis of Mark Twain’s value, to his harrowing journey accompanying a dear friend as she pursued gender-reassignment surgery,  The Destiny Thief  reflects the broad interests and experiences of one of America’s most beloved authors. Warm, funny, wise, and poignant, the essays included here traverse Russo’s writing life, expanding our understanding of who he is and how his singular, incredibly generous mind works. An utter joy to read, they give deep insight into the creative process from the prospective of one of our greatest writers.”

Curry: Eating, Reading, and Race by Naben Ruthnum

“Curry is a dish that doesn’t quite exist, but, as this wildly funny and sharp essay points out, a dish that doesn’t properly exist can have infinite, equally authentic variations. By grappling with novels, recipes, travelogues, pop culture, and his own upbringing, Naben Ruthnum depicts how the distinctive taste of curry has often become maladroit shorthand for brown identity. With the sardonic wit of Gita Mehta’s  Karma Cola  and the refined, obsessive palette of Bill Buford’s  Heat , Ruthnum sinks his teeth into the story of how the beloved flavor calcified into an aesthetic genre that limits the imaginations of writers, readers, and eaters.”

The River of Consciousness  by Oliver Sacks

“Sacks, an Oxford-educated polymath, had a deep familiarity not only with literature and medicine but with botany, animal anatomy, chemistry, the history of science, philosophy, and psychology.  The River of Consciousness  is one of two books Sacks was working on up to his death, and it reveals his ability to make unexpected connections, his sheer joy in knowledge, and his unceasing, timeless project to understand what makes us human.”

All the Women in My Family Sing: Women Write the World: Essays on Equality, Justice, and Freedom (Nothing But the Truth So Help Me God)  by Deborah Santana and America Ferrera

“ All the Women in My Family Sing  is an anthology documenting the experiences of women of color at the dawn of the twenty-first century. It is a vital collection of prose and poetry whose topics range from the pressures of being the vice-president of a Fortune 500 Company, to escaping the killing fields of Cambodia, to the struggles inside immigration, identity, romance, and self-worth. These brief, trenchant essays capture the aspirations and wisdom of women of color as they exercise autonomy, creativity, and dignity and build bridges to heal the brokenness in today’s turbulent world.”

We Wear the Mask: 15 True Stories of Passing in America  by Brando Skyhorse and Lisa Page

“For some, ‘passing’ means opportunity, access, or safety. Others don’t willingly pass but are ‘passed’ in specific situations by someone else.  We Wear the Mask , edited by  Brando Skyhorse  and  Lisa Page , is an illuminating and timely anthology that examines the complex reality of passing in America. Skyhorse, a Mexican American, writes about how his mother passed him as an American Indian before he learned who he really is. Page shares how her white mother didn’t tell friends about her black ex-husband or that her children were, in fact, biracial.”

Feel Free: Essays by Zadie Smith

“Since she burst spectacularly into view with her debut novel almost two decades ago, Zadie Smith has established herself not just as one of the world’s preeminent fiction writers, but also a brilliant and singular essayist. She contributes regularly to  The New Yorker  and the  New York Review of Books  on a range of subjects, and each piece of hers is a literary event in its own right.”

The Mother of All Questions: Further Reports from the Feminist Revolutions  by Rebecca Solnit

“In a timely follow-up to her national bestseller  Men Explain Things to Me , Rebecca Solnit offers indispensable commentary on women who refuse to be silenced, misogynistic violence, the fragile masculinity of the literary canon, the gender binary, the recent history of rape jokes, and much more. In characteristic style, Solnit mixes humor, keen analysis, and powerful insight in these essays.”

The Wrong Way to Save Your Life: Essays  by Megan Stielstra

“Whether she’s imagining the implications of open-carry laws on college campuses, recounting the story of going underwater on the mortgage of her first home, or revealing the unexpected pains and joys of marriage and motherhood, Stielstra’s work informs, impels, enlightens, and embraces us all. The result is something beautiful—this story, her courage, and, potentially, our own.”

Against Memoir: Complaints, Confessions & Criticisms  by Michelle Tea

“Delivered with her signature honesty and dark humor, this is Tea’s first-ever collection of journalistic writing. As she blurs the line between telling other people’s stories and her own, she turns an investigative eye to the genre that’s nurtured her entire career—memoir—and considers the price that art demands be paid from life.”

A Twenty Minute Silence Followed by Applause  by Shawn Wen

“In precise, jewel-like scenes and vignettes,  A Twenty Minute Silence Followed by Applause  pays homage to the singular genius of a mostly-forgotten art form. Drawing on interviews, archival research, and meticulously observed performances, Wen translates the gestural language of mime into a lyric written portrait by turns whimsical, melancholic, and haunting.”

Acid West: Essays  by Joshua Wheeler

“The radical evolution of American identity, from cowboys to drone warriors to space explorers, is a story rooted in southern New Mexico.  Acid West  illuminates this history, clawing at the bounds of genre to reveal a place that is, for better or worse, home. By turns intimate, absurd, and frightening,  Acid West  is an enlightening deep-dive into a prophetic desert at the bottom of America.”

Sexographies  by Gabriela Wiener and Lucy Greaves And jennifer adcock (Translators)

“In fierce and sumptuous first-person accounts, renowned Peruvian journalist Gabriela Wiener records infiltrating the most dangerous Peruvian prison, participating in sexual exchanges in swingers clubs, traveling the dark paths of the Bois de Boulogne in Paris in the company of transvestites and prostitutes, undergoing a complicated process of egg donation, and participating in a ritual of ayahuasca ingestion in the Amazon jungle—all while taking us on inward journeys that explore immigration, maternity, fear of death, ugliness, and threesomes. Fortunately, our eagle-eyed voyeur emerges from her narrative forays unscathed and ready to take on the kinks, obsessions, and messiness of our lives.  Sexographies  is an eye-opening, kamikaze journey across the contours of the human body and mind.”

The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative  by Florence Williams

“From forest trails in Korea, to islands in Finland, to eucalyptus groves in California, Florence Williams investigates the science behind nature’s positive effects on the brain. Delving into brand-new research, she uncovers the powers of the natural world to improve health, promote reflection and innovation, and strengthen our relationships. As our modern lives shift dramatically indoors, these ideas—and the answers they yield—are more urgent than ever.”

Can You Tolerate This?: Essays  by Ashleigh Young

“ Can You Tolerate This?  presents a vivid self-portrait of an introspective yet widely curious young woman, the colorful, isolated community in which she comes of age, and the uneasy tensions—between safety and risk, love and solitude, the catharsis of grief and the ecstasy of creation—that define our lives.”

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Essays on 21st Century

Choosing 21st century essay topics.

As we navigate through the 21st century, the world around us is constantly evolving, and this evolution comes with a plethora of complex issues and topics that are ripe for exploration and discussion. When it comes to selecting an essay topic for your academic assignments, it's important to choose a subject that is not only relevant but also engaging and thought-provoking. In this article, we will delve into the importance of choosing a 21st-century essay topic, provide advice on how to select a topic, and offer a detailed list of recommended essay topics across various categories.

The Importance of the Topic

Choosing a relevant and impactful essay topic is crucial for several reasons. Firstly, it allows you to engage with current events and trends, fostering a deeper understanding of the world around us and its complexities. Secondly, a well-chosen topic can spark meaningful discussions and debates, both within academic circles and in society at large. Additionally, selecting a 21st-century essay topic can help you develop critical thinking and analytical skills, as you navigate through the complexities of contemporary issues.

Advice on Choosing a Topic

When it comes to selecting an essay topic, it's important to consider your interests, as well as the relevance and significance of the subject matter. Start by brainstorming a list of topics that intrigue you and align with your academic goals. Consider the potential impact of the topic and its relevance to modern society. Research the latest developments and debates surrounding the topic to ensure that you have access to current and credible sources. Lastly, make sure the topic is broad enough to provide you with ample research material, but also specific enough to allow for in-depth exploration.

Recommended Essay Topics

Social issues.

• The impact of social media on mental health
• Income inequality in the 21st century
• The rise of fake news and its implications
• The role of activism in contemporary society

Technology and Innovation

• The ethical implications of artificial intelligence
• The future of renewable energy sources
• Privacy and data protection in the digital age
• The impact of technology on the job market

Environmental Concerns

• The effects of climate change on global communities
• Sustainable practices for a greener future
• The role of activism in environmental conservation
• The intersection of environmentalism and social justice

Global Politics

• International responses to humanitarian crises
• Nationalism and its impact on global diplomacy
• The role of the United Nations in the 21st century
• The rise of populism and its implications for global governance

Cultural Identity

• The impact of globalization on cultural diversity
• The portrayal of gender and race in contemporary media
• The intersection of technology and cultural heritage
• The role of art and literature in shaping cultural identities

These are just a few examples of the myriad of topics that you can explore for your 21st-century essay. Remember to choose a topic that resonates with you and aligns with your academic interests. By delving into the complexities of contemporary issues, you can develop a deeper understanding of the world around us and contribute to meaningful discussions and debates.

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A Look at Racism in The 21st Century and Efforts to Stop It

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Geothermal Energy as The Solution to The 21st Century Problem of Energy

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Comic books in the 21st century, a lesson to never give up in "the odyssey", a poem by homer, organizational structure and management: alibaba and the 21st century, challenges faced by native americans in 21str century, trump and the rise of 21st century fascism, princess diana’s memoir, a study on the impact of corporate accountability, understanding the craze behind esports, the changing role of accountants in the 21st century, sylvia plath’s presentation of feelings and standards on women as described in her book, the bell jar, analysis on communication as a factor in relationships, understanding the representation of black females sexual desirability in the u.s, how lucky i am to be born in this century.

The beginning of the 21st century was the rise of a global warming, global economy and Third World consumerism, increased private enterprise and terrorist attacks. Many great and many bad things happened in the current century. Many natural and man-made disasters made their impact on the world.

In the 21st century the effects of social development have affected different countries and different social groups differently. Although social development upgraded life standards of population.

The main challenges in the 21st century are: climate change, plastic pollution in the oceans, natural hazards, air pollution, hunger and increased inequalities.

Technology in the 21st century has enabled to humans to make strides that our ancestors could only dream of. People in the 21st century live in a technology and media-suffused environment.

The world population was about 6.1 billion at the start of the 21st century and reached 7.8 billion by March 2020.

Economically and politically, the United States and Western Europe were dominant at the beginning of the century. By the 2010s, China became an emerging global superpower and the world's largest economy. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are increasing in popularity worldwide.

The 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers, Hurricane Katrina, Same-Sex Marriage Legalisation, Haiti Earthquake, The Arab Spring, Brexit

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Essay Samples on 21St Century

Navigating the 21st century: understanding of modern learning.

The 21st century has ushered in a new era of unprecedented change, progress, and innovation. As the world evolves at an astonishing pace, so too must the methods of learning and education. This essay delves into the essence of the 21st century as it pertains...

• 21St Century

The Essential Role of Human Values in the 21st Century

The 21st century presents a myriad of challenges and opportunities that call for a renewed emphasis on human values as guiding principles to shape individual behaviors, societal norms, and global interactions. In an era marked by technological advancements, cultural diversification, and interconnectedness, the role of...

The Dynamic Role of Media in the 21st Century

The 21st century has ushered in a new era of media that transcends traditional boundaries, transforming the way information is disseminated, consumed, and shared. In this age of digitalization and connectivity, media in the 21st century holds unprecedented power to shape public opinion, influence cultural...

• Role of Media

Human Values in 21st Century: A Blueprint for a Better World

The 21st century presents a unique set of challenges and opportunities that demand a reevaluation of the values that guide human behavior. In this era of rapid technological advancements, cultural diversification, and interconnectedness, the importance of human values in the 21st century cannot be overstated....

Feminism in the 21st Century: Empowerment and Progress

The 21st century has witnessed a remarkable evolution in the feminist movement, with women and gender equality advocates making significant strides towards dismantling barriers, challenging stereotypes, and reshaping societal norms. Feminism in the 21st century is characterized by a global and intersectional approach that transcends...

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Education in the 21st Century: Navigating a Transformative Landscape

The 21st century has brought about profound changes in every aspect of human life, including education. The traditional classroom model is being reshaped by rapid technological advancements, shifts in pedagogical approaches, and evolving societal demands. Education in the 21st century is not only about imparting...

• Technology in Education

Communication in the 21st Century: Navigating the Digital Age

The 21st century has witnessed an unprecedented transformation in the way people communicate. Rapid technological advancements have reshaped the landscape of communication in the 21st century, enabling instant global connectivity, diverse modes of expression, and new challenges and opportunities. This essay explores the multifaceted nature...

• Communication

Beauty in the 21st Century: Embracing Diversity and Empowerment

The concept of beauty has evolved significantly in the 21st century, reflecting a cultural shift towards inclusivity, diversity, and empowerment. No longer confined to narrow standards, beauty in the 21st century celebrates individuality, challenges stereotypes, and embraces a broader range of ideals. This essay explores...

Advantages of 21st Century Learning: A Transformative Educational Landscape

The 21st century has brought about a paradigm shift in education, ushering in a new era of learning that is characterized by innovation, technology integration, and a focus on holistic skill development. The advantages of 21st century learning are manifold, revolutionizing the educational landscape and...

Exploring the Impact of 21st Century Technology

The 21st century has witnessed a technological revolution that has reshaped every facet of human existence. From communication to commerce, education to entertainment, the influence of 21st century technology is pervasive and transformative. This essay delves into the profound impact of technology in this era,...

• Modern Technology

The 21st Century Teacher: Education's Transformative

The role of a teacher has evolved significantly in the 21st century, reflecting the dynamic changes in education, technology, and the needs of modern learners. The 21st century teacher is not merely an instructor but a guide, mentor, and facilitator of learning. This essay delves...

Nurturing 21st Century Skills: Preparing for Success in the Modern World

The 21st century is characterized by rapid technological advancements, shifting global dynamics, and a growing need for individuals to possess a distinct set of skills that go beyond traditional academics. The acquisition of 21st century skills has become a critical component of education, enabling individuals...

Transforming Education in the 21st Century

Education in the 21st century has undergone a profound transformation, driven by the rapid advancement of technology, changing societal demands, and a growing recognition of the need for holistic skill development. This essay delves into the landscape of 21st century education, exploring the key features...

The 2020 Mark: Reflecting on a New Decade of Transformation

The transition into the new decade marked by 2020 was a moment of anticipation and reflection. As the previous decade drew to a close, and the dawn of the 2020s emerged, I found myself looking both backward and forward, considering the lessons learned and the...

Digital Piracy as Main Crime of 21st-Century

Humans have been performing illegal activities for years. With today’s 21st-century society being technology, illegal activity within the technological/internet-based realm is a major occurrence. Digital piracy is the illegal trade in software, videos, digital video devices, and music. Piracy occurs when someone other than the...

• Digital Era

John Dewey, and the 21st Century Cinematic Aesthetic Experience 

John Dewey in his tenth volume written in 1934, Art as Experience, gave his theory on the arts and created a change in the way people viewed aesthetics and how artists created. Even though Dewey does not talk about film in his volume, except briefly...

To What Extent is NATO Still Relevant in the 21st Century

Introduction In 1949 a new military alliance was finalised bringing together 12 nations for mutual defence. However, now in the 21st century, the world has changed and it is time to re-evaluate NATO’s relevance. President Trump has already questioned the commitment of other countries to...

Gun Control: The Controversial Issue of the 21st Century

Do you want a safer future for both you and your family? Do you want America to actually be great again? Then help solve one of America’s biggest problems since it declared its independence in 1776: Guns. This topic is considered one of the most...

• Controversial Issue
• Gun Control

China's Vision of the Silk Road for the 21st Century

Since the break-up of the Soviet Union and the establishment of the independent Central Asian States, China has been extremely active in its effort to rehabilitate the concept of the “Silk Road”. This endeavour eventually helped shaped the Chinese government’s grand initiative “One Belt and...

“To Be Or Not To Be?” How Relevant Is Shakespeare

Shakespeare has been dead for over four hundred years now. Four hundred two years now to be exact. Many people recognize the name William Shakespeare but when was the last time you have read one of his poems or stories or even watched one of...

• William Shakespeare

Data In The 21St Century And Its Importance

In the 21st century, globalization is the spreading of everything around the world, especially the internet. Now, internet has become an important tool for the business success. The internet has helped the organizations to gathers and records data. In the 21st century, data is the...

• Data Collection
• Effects of Technology

Obsolescence Of Major War Between Great Powers In The 21st Century

Ever since the collapse of Communism in 1991, the international society has been experiencing perhaps the most peaceful era in history. However, others argue that threats to national security have not yet been completely eliminated and the potential for the next major war still prevails....

• Separation of Powers

Anthropological Pieces To Understand A Culture

More Than Just Words If you were asked to define your culture in one sentence, what would you say? Would you mention the food, clothing, or beliefs? Would you feel satisfied with your answer, or feel the need to add more? Describing your culture to...

• Anthropology

Best topics on 21St Century

1. Navigating the 21st Century: Understanding of Modern Learning

2. The Essential Role of Human Values in the 21st Century

3. The Dynamic Role of Media in the 21st Century

4. Human Values in 21st Century: A Blueprint for a Better World

5. Feminism in the 21st Century: Empowerment and Progress

6. Education in the 21st Century: Navigating a Transformative Landscape

7. Communication in the 21st Century: Navigating the Digital Age

8. Beauty in the 21st Century: Embracing Diversity and Empowerment

9. Advantages of 21st Century Learning: A Transformative Educational Landscape

10. Exploring the Impact of 21st Century Technology

11. The 21st Century Teacher: Education’s Transformative

12. Nurturing 21st Century Skills: Preparing for Success in the Modern World

13. Transforming Education in the 21st Century

14. The 2020 Mark: Reflecting on a New Decade of Transformation

15. Digital Piracy as Main Crime of 21st-Century

• Civil Rights Movement
• American History
• African American History
• African Diaspora
• Oral History
• Adolf Hitler
• Alexander The Great

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21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari review – a guru for our times?

The author of global bestseller Sapiens is back, with a self-help guide for a bewildering age – and its sweeping statements are peppered with truly mind-expanding observations

Yuval Noah Harari’s career is a publishing fairytale. An obscure Israeli academic writes a Hebrew-language history of humanity. Translated into English in 2014, the book sells more than a million copies. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg includes it in his book club in 2015. Ridley Scott wants to turn it into a TV series. Barack Obama says it gave him perspective on “the core things that have allowed us to build this extraordinary civilization that we take for granted”. Its sales spike when it is mentioned on Love Island .

That book was Sapiens , which is bold, breezy and engaging, romping its way from the discovery of fire to the creation of cyborgs in less than 500 pages. The future-gazing follow-up, Homo Deus , was also a global bestseller, and now Harari has turned his attention to the present with 21 Lessons for the 21st Century . It covers everything from war – Harari’s academic specialism – to meditation, his favourite leisure activity. (He does two hours a day, and a month-long retreat every year.) The collection of pieces aims to take stock of where humanity has reached, and where it might be going. Ultra-topical concerns such as “fake news” and the rise of authoritarians such as Donald Trump are set in the context of centuries of our biological and social evolution. As Obama said, this approach certainly gives the reader perspective. Ivan the Terrible was probably more, well, terrible than Trump. Cheer up! Until you remember climate change, at least – because, to his credit, Harari is one of the few futurists to factor ecological collapse into his predictions.

All the classic Harari themes are here. Life in 15th-century China was pretty slow, but now the pace of change feels unstoppable. Religion can be bad, but has its uses. Nationalism can be bad, but has its uses. Factory farming is very, very bad. Liberalism is good, but under threat. Hunter-gathering is a more exciting lifestyle choice than farming, or working in a factory. Technological advances bring Big Ethical Questions. And, of course, there is Harari’s main question, which is here spelled out in a chapter heading. “How do you live in an age of bewilderment, when the old stories have collapsed, and no new story has yet emerged to replace them?” He contends that collective myths, such as money and laws, have allowed us to build huge, complicated societies far beyond what our biological limitations might suggest is possible. But in the secular west, religion is fading from public life. And in our globalised world, the idea of a coherent nation-state is threatened. What do we have left to believe in?

One of the answers, although the author does not provide it, is gurus, of which we have created a new class, each individually tailored to our needs. Some anxious middle-class women have Gwyneth Paltrow , who promises enlightenment through yoni steaming and dietary restrictions. Angry, disaffected young men have Jordan Peterson, whose banal advice about tidying your room is camouflaged with Jungian blah and sulky oppositionalism. And people who shone at school and don’t understand why that hasn’t made them happy have Harari. His books use evolutionary psychology as self-help: the world is a scary, fast-changing place, so it’s no surprise our savannah-trained ape brains struggle to navigate through it. We simply haven’t evolved to cope with automated checkouts and emailing after 7pm.

21 Lessons for the 21st Century is, as the title suggests, a loose collection of themed essays, many of which build on articles for the New York Times, Bloomberg and elsewhere. That has strange results. A chapter arguing that “Judaism played only a modest role in the annals of our species” seems random until you realise it started life as a piece for the liberal Israeli paper Haaretz. However, the format plays to Harari’s big selling point: the ambition and breadth of his work, smashing together unexpected ideas into dazzling observations. “Why do we fear terrorism more than sugar?” Harari asks at one point. (Answer: terrorism is not delicious on porridge.) “Property is a prerequisite for long-term inequality.” (Told you he was nostalgic for the era of berry collection.) “Homo Sapiens is a post-truth species, whose power depends on creating and believing fictions.” (OK, but you did this riff in Sapiens .) Microsoft “is an intricate legal fiction”. (And this one, except then it was Peugeot.)

The best reason not to throw this book out of the window is that, occasionally, Harari writes a paragraph that is genuinely mind-expanding. In the chapter on religion he notes: “Japan was the first power to develop and use precision-guided missiles.” Cue a hundred military historians dropping their marmalade. Say what? But it’s a feint: “We know these missiles as the kamikaze.” The willingness of Japanese pilots to die made their military hardware more effective, and “was the product of the death-defying spirit of sacrifice cultivated by State Shintō”. Humans are endlessly creative, goes the lesson, and sometimes we solve problems by changing the question rather than answering it. Beat that, AI.

There are plenty of provocations – why climate change might benefit the Russian economy, how humans could evolve into different species – but the globetrotting, history-straddling scope of Harari’s approach has an obvious drawback, which is that some of the observations here feel recycled. His sweeping statements, breathtaking though they are, can also feel untethered from the intellectual traditions from which they come. References to previous thinkers and writers on the subjects he covers are largely tucked away in endnotes.

Here’s an example. In the chapter on work, Harari suggests that technology could reduce the availability of paid labour for humans, creating millions of “spare” people. In response, we could “widen the range of human activities that are considered to be ‘jobs’”, Harari writes. “Maybe we need to turn a switch in our minds and realise that taking care of a child is arguably the most important and challenging job in the world.” Unpaid caring labour is undervalued in capitalist systems? No one tell the feminist movement, it’ll blow their minds.

It’s an unkind comparison, but I am compelled to return to Jordan Peterson. The two men are almost mirror-images: Harari is a vegan, while Peterson says that a beef-only diet is the best treatment for his depression. Both can sound like prophets. Harari advises that if you want to “know the truth about the universe ... the best place to start is by observing suffering and exploring what it is”, while Peterson tells readers: “Suffering is real, and the artful infliction of suffering on another, for its own sake, is wrong. That became the cornerstone of my belief.”

And both men are treated as general all-purpose Clever People, rather than as academics with a particular specialism. They inhabit the high-altitude world of speaking tours and TED talks, repackaging their books into bite-sized chunks. They also fuse high and low culture, to show they are brainy but also with it, sharing a surprising interest in the 1994 Disney classic The Lion King . Peterson once gave a lecture where he praised Mufasa’s dominant, manly posture: “He’s a very regal-looking person … lion,” he told students. Meanwhile, Harari sees the film as a retelling of the Hindu text the Bhagavad Gita , with its themes of revenge and the circle of life. This kind of pop-culture criticism often relies on implying that no one else (ie, people without PhDs) has contemplated the existence of subtext before. Harari is hardly the first person to spot that the 2015 film Ex Machina was about gender, not just AI. “Many movies about artificial intelligence are so divorced from scientific reality that one suspects they are just allegories of completely different concerns,” he writes.

Ultimately, the smudges and slips of Sapiens are forgivable, because it’s a rollicking good read and I suspect it acts as a gateway drug to more academic accounts of human history. However, this book sees Harari enter that class of gurus who are assumed to be experts on everything. The 22nd lesson of this book is obvious: no single member of the tribe Homo Sapiens can know everything. If this new age needs new stories, then we have to let more people tell them.

21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah Harari (Jonathan Cape, £18.99) is the Guardian Bookshop’s Book of the Month. To order a copy for £13.99, saving £5, go to guardianbookshop.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over £10, online orders only. Phone orders min. p&p of £1.99.

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21 Lessons for the 21st Century

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Discussion Questions

Which of the global challenges described in Part 1 of the book is the most dangerous or concerning in your view? Why?

Why are people losing faith in the liberal story? What evidence does Harari present for this position? Do you find his argument convincing? Why, or why not?

Harari argues that “data will eclipse both land and machinery as the most important [economic] asset, and politics will be a struggle to control the flow of data” (77). Do you find this argument convincing?

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Essay on the world of the 21st century

It is all the transcendence of human race that people today reach the height of maximum luxury upgrading from the days of their very ancient Stone and Cave age. What human being has achieved today was once only a dream out of reach. But man’s curiosity—perhaps the most wonderful gift given to man by God was behind his quest leading to wholehearted efforts to convert all impossible dreams of yesteryears into reality.

Today in the 21st century, men have reasons enough to be proud for their unique achievements. From stepping into the moon of cloning genes, there has been a long list of tremendous success of science and technology. But restless people’s mind has still enough desire for even greater achievements. And there is every reason to believe that in the coming days many of such dreams would be possible for us.

Today at the starting days of the 21st century, Technology is the most pronouncing name all over the world. We are at the age of computer. Application of computer is becoming a common name in all aspects of life.

Computer now no longer remains only a laboratory kit. Its application ventures into industrial setups, health care facilities, educational institutions, banking systems, ticket booking counters, carrying out business proceedings, governmental jobs in fact in all aspects. Greater accuracy, more memory capacity and time saving ability of computer make people more and more interested towards its application.

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CD-ROMS have already ventured into conventional paper printings with their greater storage capacity and longer safety. Internet the name has already created history turning out the world into a global village.

Electronic commerce (E-com) is all set to create big bonanza in the 21st century where a man in India sitting with his computer could order his required assets at a market complex in America and within hours, he could get delivered his required assets at his doorstep. Software experts are continuing their efforts to create even new miracles.

Home works have already been carried out to regulate computer applications. Pirated software packages, leaving computer viruses in the net are creating havoc all over the world. The recent “love bug” menace stalled net application throughout the world for several hours leading billions of dollar loss incurred in the worldwide business proceedings. Need therefore now arises to have strict international cyber laws to prevent such crimes.

Medical science is yet another area where man has already gained big success. Bypass surgery organ transplantation, CAT scan, ultrasound, Keyhole surgery are the names that have given maximum safety to human life. Using modern equipment in human body, diagnosis and surgery has already created history. Computer application has given greater accuracy and sophisticated modes to medical facilities.

Telemedicine now makes possible distant treatment, where a patient can consult with his physician by pressing keys in the keyboard. In the coming days, it would have greater access where a patient sitting in India could consult and get treatment from a specialist in America. Application of robots in surgery is already under experiment in Western countries.

In the coming days of the 21st century where a surgeon could sit in his place and just by pressing keys perform surgery getting assistance from the robot. The recent success by the scientists in human gene mapping has marked another grand success in the field of medical science. Scientists now believe that it would be possible to have absolute treatment for diseases like cancer or AIDS in our coming days.

Like polio or pox, many other diseases would also be completely eradicated from our life. However, in the time of overall human health management, there remain many shortfalls. Inequality in human health security is a big defeat for medical science. High cost now becomes a factor where the rich can only afford to get specialised medical facilities.

For the poor, better medical facilities are still a distant dream. Large number of children still is dying of malnutrition in many African countries. Every day, more than 1000 women die all over the world in problems related to pregnancy and childbirth. In our country malaria and tuberculosis still cost large number of deaths. In many places, villagers nave still to depend on quacks since they cannot afford modern medical treatment.

What we now need is equality in terms of health care facilities. Let’s hope we achieve this goal in the coming days of the 21st century.

In the field of space science, there has been success beyond imagination. Once people dreamt of getting the moon in their hands. And today after stepping into the moon they are now dreaming of making holiday resorts at moon.

Success achieved in mission Mars has thrown new light on the possibility of life in other planets. Grand success achieved in space science has now led to spectacular achievements in the field of communications like E-mail, Internet, ISD system, mobile Tele system, fax etc. Recent revolution in TV broadcasting is also due to grand success achieved in the Space science.

In transport, air service system has already created revolution turning the world into an area of only a few hours of journey. Supersonic jets are now under trial, which would give fastest ever transport facilities. Railway system of transportation has achieved steep heights. Japan has already created history by introducing fastest ever electronic railway engine. Gradual decrease of conventional fuels like petroleum or coal has now led people to find out non-conventional fuel resources.

A vehicle driven with solar energy is already under trial. Solar energy would be the mains source of fuel in future, which would also be eco-friendly.

In the field of agriculture also, people’s efforts have led to tremendous achievements. Green revolution has created history all over the world Biotechnology has helped hybridization where scientists have come out with success in producing advanced varieties of high-yielding, disseat resistance or drought-resistance seeds.

With the assistance of satellites meteorological science has got new boost-up with early prediction of proper time management or water management for better cultivation. As has been reported scientists in Britain recently created a type of insect the can kill any other type of crop destructing pests. In the coming days man new evolutions are in the line which, would make possible even evolution are in the line which would make possible even better crop management.

In the field of nuclear science, scientists have already developed fission technology to produce greater energy. They have already learnt to produce nuclear energy from high-powered radioactive elements like plutonium, thorium or uranium. In the wake of decreasing stock of non-renewable sources, people have even learnt of making artificial radioactive material India’s Kamini Research Reactor has already set example using “Uranium 233”; a man-made fissionable material derived from thorium, as fuel.

Efforts have been continued to harness fusion of hydrogen atom. In the coming days of the 21st century, scientists would certainly come out with success trapping large amount of energy from fusion of hydrogen atoms, to be used in useful purposes.

Success of science and technology is tremendous. We have already achieved a lot and there is lot more to be achieved in the coming days. But where science and technology has made us materially rich in socioeconomic front, the world is also going to be a big loser. Man’s de; to achieve beyond limit has now threatened safety of human life.

We fast proceeding industrial setup, environmental pollution is becoming a common name. Vehicular pollution is fast growing at a pace emitting poisonous gases everyday in the environment. Number of patients suffering from respiratory ailments, skin diseases or other health hazards is increasing every day. Being one of the most polluted cities in the world, thousands of residents in Delhi are reportedly suffering from respiratory problems.

Green house effect is becoming a serious concern threatening world environment. With the increase of industrial activity and decrease of forest coverage, carbon-di-oxide level is rising in the environment at a rate faster than the normal resulting in rising of world temperatures. Scientists have reported melting of ice in the Polar Regions and rising of the sea level. It has now been predicted that by the mid of the 21st century, many islands and parts of the countries will submerge under sea.

Ozone depletion is yet another reality creating havoc in our life. Refrigerator, a success of science, has added luxury to our life, but the coolants used here now remain one of the major sources of chloro-floro- carbon (CFC), that causes depletion of the Ozone layer, the protection barrier of the poisonous ultraviolet light. With the influence of UV light, danger of skin cancer is rising tremendously.

As Darwin explained in his theory of evolution, to keep balance on earth every species need to keep its multiplication at a balanced rate. With excessive multiplication of human population, other species are downing their population rate. Several varieties of birds and animals are already extinct from our environment. With greater human establishment, forest coverage is fast reducing. Landslides, heavy rains leading to floods have now become the common occurrences.

Large-scale competition among the human beings has led to shortage of all conventional resources on the earth. For example, the scientists have predicted that by the mid of this century, the world would face big potable water crisis.

On the social front, disparity between the rich and the poor is increasing tremendously. Social tension is mounting steadily. People are going to be more and more mechanical. Joint family norms is now almost outdated.

People have become more and more self-centered. With lack of sympathy among the rich for the poor, social crimes are raising reducing safety to man’s life with deprived classes as also neo-rich taking to crime.

Disparity among the countries has also been rising. Countries have become more and thirstier to increase their influence. Various world organisations like WTO, UN, etc. have no longer remained fair in conducting their business. In these organisations, voice of the rich countries prevails to the neglect of the poor countries.

The North-South gap has been rising tremendously. Where the American and European countries are turning to be world’s heaven in terms of luxury, people of many African countries are dying of malnutrition, disease and death.

Political disparity is mounting among the global powers increasing regional tensions. Even after experiencing war havoc a number of times; nations do not seem to have learnt to avoid conflict. To show their own muscle power, countries have concentrated beefing up their stockpile of conventional and nuclear arms.

Again both economic and political disparity is giving birth to rebel groups within the countries. World terrorism is now creating havoc all over the world. Man is the most successful creation of God. And all human beings always seek mental peace perhaps the most wonderful gift of God. The revolution of scientific inventions was all started to give comfort and happiness to man’s life.

When Einstein evaluated his theory of relativity (E=mc2) perhaps he did not even imagine that one day men would apply it to enrich their stockpile of dreaded nuclear weapons. But very unfortunately people’s desires to feed beyond limit make them hawkish against one another. It took thousands of years to reach at today’s level of progress, but it will not take even a day to go back to our days of origin.

Fortunately a sane human mind can never desire for destruction. World efforts are continuing to ensure permanent peace. At the beginning of the 21st century, can we really hope of getting a world of love, unity and peace in our coming days? Religion which should be source of mental peace, universal brotherhood, and respect for other beliefs is now being misused to promote terrorism whether it is Kashmir, Chechnya, the Philippines or elsewhere by Islamic fundamentalists.

The unprovoked killing of innocent and devout pilgrims to Amarnath, the Nature-made (not man-made) Shiv lingam, in Jammu & Kashmir is a gruesome reminder to the extent where religious fanaticism has reached. Is it not better to be an atheist than theist, if such brutalities are to be heaped on human beings in the name of religion? Amar Nath symbolises God’s incarnation in snow to most, it is not Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Mosque dispute which should lead to inter- religion clashes.

Let man learn to co-exist that is the only wish of every peace-loving person for the 21st century.

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21st Century Skills and Their Importance

The 21st century is definitely the century of innovation, development and ideation. Trends in technology, education and economics are moving towards automation. This revolution that the world is going through, and that is most felt in the workplace, would not have been possible without the preparation of a new generation who in the future will be the flourishing instruments of a dynamic modern world. 

When we say the preparation of young people for a new society and new economy, we refer to some skills which are vital in the individual growth of each of them, physically and mentally, and the benefits of which are felt not only in the individual but also those who surround it. 

These skills are also known as "21st Century Skills", a long list of soft skills, learning skills, literacy skills and life skills. 

Learning skills 

1. Critical thinking: to find unique solutions to modern problems 

2. Creativity: thinking outside the box and engaging in innovations that help global development. 

3. Collaboration: learning how to collaborate and work with others with a team spirit. 

4. Communication: being able to communicate your ideas to others and understanding the perspective of others as well. 

Literacy skills 

5.Information literacy: understanding facts, data, statistics and illustrations. 

6. Media literacy: understanding the media, procedures and platforms on which information is published and disseminated. 

7. Technological literacy: understanding how technologies work are the real engines of the information age. 

Life skills 

8. Flexibility: being able to do a few things and having more than one plan A 

9. Leadership: encouraging the team to achieve goals and keeping the threads together when they seem to be breaking 

10. Initiative: start strategies, projects and planning 

11. Productivity: make the best use of time and maintain efficiency in the era of distraction 

12. Social skills: socialize with others for your own happiness and expand perspective. 

In a world of fierce competition, mastering these 12 skills of the 21st century is more important than ever. 

Should everyone write code? 

Do they all have to be programmers? 

No at all. 

There is a big misconception with the "Everyone has to learn coding". Most people see learning to write computer code as their final destination and that their job is to write the code. 

But it really is not so. A programmer is capable of solving problems. Programming is about solving problems because it covers a set of skills that are usable in our daily lives. 

They are skills that the children of the new generation are losing in their education. Coding is a tool that develops the ability to solve problems. In short, even a doctor, a future sociologist, jurist or economist, must learn coding like any other necessary knowledge in life such as mathematics or mother tongue.  

Programming and children 

Imagine this scenario, parents return home tired from work and immediately look at their child's school bag on the dining table. 

They find the child playing a video game on the computer or iPad and start thinking “Why did we buy this device? Better to study.” 

This narrative seems to have been heard somewhere. Do you think that your child can create his own application? Would this change parents' approach to education and computers? How programming would affect the child and his studies. 

Why should parents teach children coding? 

1. Eliminates the gap between work and leisure. 

The whole idea of ​​learning effectively is to eliminate the knowledge and fun gap. Learning to program is closely related to programming the things you enjoy. 

2. Encourages creativity. 

When we were kids, we always found creative ways to have fun. Although schools try to keep this creativity alive, when you are asked to memorize an entire book, the "think out of the box" concept is killed. 

3. Learn how to integrate different subjects. 

Programming promotes connection to a piece of information and a word or object that is easy to remember. Creating connections between subjects’ cements children’s memory. 

4. Understand failure is what they need. 

Einstein had divergent thinking skills. All his great achievements were because he started everything with a simple question, the solution of which he connected with several possible answers. 

"If I have an hour to solve a problem and my life depends on it, I will spend the first 55 minutes formulating the right question and once I know this question, I can solve the problem in less than 5 minutes." Says the genius Albert Einstein. 

Have you ever seen a contest where you were surprised by the amount of information the contestants could remember? The question you ask is how all that information can be available to you at any time without having to rely on the modern encyclopedia, Google. 

But stop and think for a second. What good is it to get all the information if you are not able to use it? What good is it for you to know that the 17th President of the United States was Andrew Jackson if you do not understand the importance and impact of his presidency on the American Nation after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln? 

Understanding and comparing that time period within the historical context would be more important. Based on that information we can make decisions in the future. 

Cognitive skills and the mental process during which we analyze, examine, review, and explore to formulate an opinion or action based on acquired knowledge is what we call critical thinking . 

Simply saying, problem solving, creativity, decision making, organizational and personal planning, strategies, innovations are achieved through a process of critical thinking. 

In the end critical thinking is the ability to look at the world from an objective perspective and not from someone else’s point of view.

The language of the 21st Century, that will unite the World!

Albania is a small country, but with a long history of emigration. For this reason, we had to learn many languages. But how much do we know about the language of the future that will unite the World through it? 

Indeed, the fight against digital illiteracy, or "digital literacy" is one of the most powerful global campaigns that will empower the youth of the knocking century. 

Let us analyze some of the reasons why coding or programming and technology themselves promote some of the most important skills for a modern society such as that of critical thinking. 

"Everyone in this country needs to learn to code, because it teaches you to think," Steve Jobs  

Have you ever thought about what Steve Jobs was trying to say with this saying? 

Is it about coding? 

Every programmer knows how many mistakes he has made in the past in their code, even more than their job. Programming teaches children how to manage mistakes. Whenever they get stuck somewhere, the kids will look back to see where they went wrong and thus build resilience. 

5. Improve attention and concentration. 

While it is a misinterpretation that programming means having to stand for hours in front of a screen, on the other hand programmers spend minutes looking at a single aspect of programming. Thus, they strengthen the concentration and attention by helping them even in school studies. 

A regional education program in the Western Balkans which focuses on "21st Century Schools" is exactly what we were talking about above. Designed and implemented by the British Council, and supported by the UK government, it testifies even more to the importance and credibility that we parent of 21st century children should pay. 

As an innovation consultant, I have been fortunate to be the designer of many teaching curricula for children ages 7-15 in coding and robotics. I say with full conviction that support and trust should be unstinting to such initiatives. The "21st Century Schools" program contains well-thought-out curricula designed by experts in the field where through micro bit equipment funded by the Government of the United Kingdom, Albanian children will have equal access to all their peers. across the Western World, and thus implementing the most innovative practices, they should be critical in their thoughts and decisions, be cooperative, resilient in changing societies or otherwise so-called "resilient citizens", citizens of worthy and competitor of the 21st Century. 

Kushtrim Shala  Innovation Consultant  Co-founder of the Innovation Laboratory Center, ICTSlab

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Essay on the world of the 21st Century for Students

September 30, 2019 by Sandeep

500+ Words Essay on the world of the 21st Century

We may be only approximately only two decades into the twenty first century, but the world has already changed immeasurably. Changes occur daily, yet taken into view yearly these changes become extremely noticeable.

The people of today’s society are changing every day, and therefore so is the world. Of course, there is much to celebrate, and also much to mourn in this new world. It is a time of freedom and technological developments.

To define 21 st century learning we first need to accept that many of the traditional methods of teaching are no longer relevant in our high tech, super-connected fast paced society. The recent rapid pace of change has been such that we can no longer look back and even imagine how life was before this style of living.

We have seen advancements all over, in almost every field: be it technology, space, employment opportunities, society, etc. people have grown more accepting to all sections of society, although there is a long way to go still. But on the other hand, we have had terrible regressions, wars and bans coming our ways.

What is the 21 st Century?

To begin with, let us understand what the 21 st century is. The 21 st century is the current period consisting of a hundred years of the Anna Domini (AD) era, or the Common Era (CE), in accordance to the Gregorian calendar.

It is the first century of the third millennium. The third millennium refers to the 3rd thousand year period, made up of several smaller centuries. The twenty first century began on January 1, 2001 and will end on December 31, 2100.

The Gregorian calendar attempts to divide history into roughly two periods: before Christ (BC), which starts at 1 and increases backwards, and the years after his birth, which are AD, which stands for Anna Domini, the Latin translation of “the year of the Lord.”

The 21 st Century is a century for love, a century for devotion, a century for technology, and a century for revolution. In spite of the few abrupt quarrels or even massacres, none of which can be undermined, the people continue to show us that their hearts are filled with love.

It is also a century filled with unifying protests, which bring out the companionship between individuals, communities and even countries together. Women stand together, religions stand together, citizens of countries stand together, in times of any crisis.

The 21 st century stands for peace on an international scale. It stands for people attempting to break down barriers that cut them off from others. Will they succeed? That is for the future to know and for us to find out.

Technological Advancements

“The Century of technology” has been the nickname given to the twenty first century. We are among the first to live in the digital age. Technology has made significant changes in how and what work is done.

Fewer people are required to generate the same manufactured output thanks to technology, allowing (or forcing) people to shift to urban centres and find other kinds of work. Technology has allowed human workers to be unshackled from the office, giving them a much greater freedom.

In the year 2000, the concept of Bluetooth emerged. Bluetooth is a wireless technology standard for exchanging data between mobile devices or fixed computers over a short distance. Bluetooth brought the concept of exchanging data in a streamlined wireless way to the masses, creating personal area networks with mobile devices.

Then again, in 2004, the unveiling of Facebook by Mark Zuckerberg took the world by a storm. Linking the world with communication is becoming a powerful theme through these top spot holders in terms of technological advancements, and perhaps none have pushed the envelope quite like Facebook has.

Facebook was the pioneer of social media in general, bringing the capability to the average person and changing the world forever. Now social media is essential for business, a primary channel for news consumption and it is used in an influential way globally. After Facebook, the new social media outlets included a very wide range: Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Tumblr, LinkedIn, and so on.

Of course, all of these new-fangled apps came after the smartphone revolution in 2007, when Steve Jobs and Apple launched the first iPhone, the world’s most powerful personal device. From 2007 to 2019, there have been countless models unveiled.

The most recent one is the iPhone XR. In the meantime, there have been several other brands and operating systems, the most popular of them being the Samsung, Nokia, Xiaomi, Lenovo and Galaxy.

Another feat of telecommunication in the 21 st century and a giant among technological advances is the Skype application software, which not only made verbal communication possible via computers, but also, perhaps most importantly, ushered in the era of video chat. Now we also have Duo, WhatsApp Calling, Facetime and several other interfaces.

Last, but not the least is the artificial intelligence that has prospered as of late. We now have Alexa, Siri, Google and Cortana tending to all our questions and needs, waiting on us every minute. Isn’t life in the twenty first century simply great?

Space Exploration

Space exploration had, of course, began in the 20th Century itself, with the launch of Sputnik 1 by the Soviet Union. However, in the 21st century, it has been taken much further, by the whole world in general as well as specifically in India. The first event of great importance is the loss of Pluto as a planet in our solar system on September 13, 2006.

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) downgraded the status of Pluto to that of “dwarf planet.” This means that from now on only the rocky worlds of the inner Solar System and the gas giants of the outer system will be designated as planets.

The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), based in Bangalore, had also launched Chandrayaan 1, India’s first ever lunar probe, in 2008. In the near future, that is to say by July 2019, Chandrayaan 2 will also be sent to space as the second lunar exploration mission.

The mission is planned to be launched to the Moon by a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III. It includes a lunar orbiter, lander and rover, all developed indigenously.

In 2012, the Curiosity Rover was launched by the United States onto Mars. It had even managed to take a selfie there. The rover is still operational, and as of May 20, 2019, Curiosity has been on Mars for 2478 since landing on August 6, 2012.

In the next ten years, India has planned to launch seven other space exploration missions.

The most awaited and exciting prospective is probably Aditya 1, set to be launched in 2021, which will be India’s first solar exploration mission. It is designed to study the solar corona (outer layers of the Sun) which is quite similar to NASA’s Parker Solar Probe. Another one of the seven includes a satellite to Venus.

Developments in Society

The developments in society have been too numerous and widespread to talk about all of them. However, we could mention four important highlights. The first one occurred in 2014, when Malala Yousafazi became the youngest ever recipient of a Nobel Prize Award. Malala is a Pakistani activist, fighting for the rights of girls to education.

Everyone knows her story. She was shot in the head by a Taliban arms man, for going to school. But she battled against death itself and won. She now continues to encourage other girls too to fight for their right of education. She is an inspiration to everyone.

The second highlight occurred in 2015, which was the legalisation of same sex marriage across fifty states of the United States of America. It was long battle for rights by the lgbtq community , and they have finally been awarded some of those rights. However, the battle has not ended yet.

They continue to face some of the same bullying and hardships as before. On another note, in India, article 377 of the Constitution decriminalised homosexuality, in 2018. It took us a very long time, but people have finally become more accepting towards others, irrespective of their personal choices.

The third highlight was in 2016, when the United Kingdoms decided to leave the European Union. This lead to the creation of Brexit. As things stand, the United Kingdoms is due to leave the European Union at 23:00 GMT on 31 October 2019. If the UK and European Union ratify the withdrawal agreement before then, the UK will leave on the first day of the following month.

The last highlight is not an occurrence as such, but simply the next generation. In the 21st century, millennials and generation Z have come to rise and prominence in the world. They follow a ‘nihilistic’ lifestyle, and more often than not, they believe in existentialism.

Changes in Areas of Employment

The concept of working has changed in the 21st century. There are now, two main types of employees: the work from home employees, and the office worker.

21 st century workers want to work for themselves instead of for someone else. This drive towards entrepreneurship is making a success of business plays and hence, leads into the steady increase in hours per week being dedicated to work. There are now much longer work hours put in, and a much later retirement.

The quality of life has drastically reduced. In the past, limited technology meant that what we did was more directly tied into a wage-per-item concept of work. What you made or did determined your wage in a direct way.

Manufacturing, agriculture, and the office commute were the mainstays. But no more. Changes in technology, a shift in the culture, and financial challenges have shifted both the kind of work we do and the way we do it.

The 21 st Century came in with a bang, and continued to crop up with different surprises: both good and bad. We have managed to do the impossible, and live through things unimagined. And no one knows what will lie in wait for us in the future, which we are rattling towards in full speed.

Yet, I know for sure, if we stand together, all as inhabitants of the same Earth, we shall stand strong and united, ready to take on anything that comes our way. Predictions are simply assumptions. They have the same probability of failing as they have of actually occurring, and hence, it is worthless to talk of them.

But we can promise ourselves this much: the developments we have come to live with will always be less in comparison to the developments we will uncover in the future. As students, we instruct our teachers how to use the mouse and keyboard to open up PowerPoint presentations.

Well, in the future, there is going to be no lack of students explaining to their teachers how to work holocausts. Times change, generations change. How are you going to change?

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Designing Our Future: Humanities-Centered Teaching, Learning, and Thinking in the 21st Century

 Call for Proposals for Special Issue

Interdisciplinary Humanities  

Designing Our Future: Humanities-Centered Teaching, Learning, and Thinking in the 21st Century  

Editors: 

Katy Hanggi, Chair & Associate Professor, Dept. of Focused Inquiry, Virginia Commonwealth University

Julianna Grabianowski, Assistant Professor of Business, Doane University

Jared List, Associate Professor of Spanish, Doane University

Special Issue Description

What does the future hold for the humanities? Now, perhaps more than ever, the humanities have the opportunity and the urgency to innovate and adapt to the shifting dimensions of the twenty-first century. The humanities provide valuable habits of minds and skills that prepare students for their professional and personal lives. They teach us about the human condition: how we relate to each other; how we understand and work with differing perspectives; how we express ourselves; how we act ethically; and, how we better come to know ourselves. The disciplined university has traditionally organized the humanities within majors, minors, certificates, and general education courses. This structure creates silos where subjects are taught within a particular discipline with an occasional slippage into other disciplines. With the increasing corporatization of the university and the shrinking of higher education, the humanities have become subject to market forces and student demand, positioning academics to continually demonstrate the “value” of their program, degree, or course.

To push against this rigid structure, some colleges and universities are being creative and innovative with the humanities. Some are trying to infuse the humanities in places where traditionally they have been absent, and some are reconceptualizing and repackaging them. For example, how do the humanities give us a roadmap to determine the ethical boundaries of the non-human, cyborgian networks of knowledge generated by artificial intelligence? Or, how does the growing emphasis on incorporating multidisciplinary “real-world” problem-solving in general education courses demonstrate the necessity of humanities thinking? 

Thus, this special issue which aims to highlight the strategies and unique ways in which we are adapting and responding to the shifts in higher education. What we note is rather than a focus on disciplinary content, we see an emerging emphasis on humanities thinking and its “real-world” application. We have obstacles to confront and many possibilities before us. For example, the pandemic has shown that higher education can pivot quickly, and with those changes, many of us are seeing the speed of change continue to increase amidst the challenges colleges and universities face. Do we continue to operate within and make small changes to the siloed structures that have defined the American university? Or can we imagine new configurations and ways of thinking about our disciplines, courses, and pedagogies that empower us to design our futures?  

Accordingly, we invite scholars to contribute essays that engage with the following questions: 

• How do we center the humanities in interdisciplinary work through meaningful and productive collaborations?
• How do we design humanities courses or programs that generate student interest and demonstrate their value?
• How do we survive the shrinking of higher education amidst an unknown future?
• In what ways can the humanities be positioned as central to institutions’ strategic priorities?
• How can we capitalize on higher education’s emphasis on experiential learning and career preparedness to strengthen our offerings?
• How can innovative pedagogies inform new approaches to the humanities?
• How can online learning be leveraged to extend the reach of what the humanities tell us how to relate to another?
• How does the growth of generative AI impact humanities education in productive, innovative ways?
• What are institutions’ creative responses to the obstacles of interdisciplinarity?
• How do we prepare graduate students for a higher education landscape that is unlikely to provide them with full-time employment in academia?
• How are community colleges drawing connections between the humanities and workforce readiness? 

Proposal Submission Guidelines and Process

Submit essay proposals to [email protected] by  Friday, April 26, 2024 , including the following information: 

• Proposed essay title
• Abstract of 250 words 
• Name(s) of author(s) and academic affiliation(s)
• Brief bio(s) (100 words of less) of author(s)

Essay Guidelines

Essays will meet the following norms:

• 5,000 to 7,000 words (including notes) 
• double spaced, 12-points Times New Roman font, 1” fully-justified margins
• adheres to latest version of  The Chicago Manual of Style
• Endnotes only (notes should show full citations followed by shortened citations for the same sources; single-spaced and 10-points Times New Roman font))
• no bibliography
• quotes over three lines in length need to be in a free-standing block of text with no quotation marks, indented on the left side of the block, and starting the quotation on a new line, with the entire quote indented 1/2 inch from the left margin while maintaining double-spacing;
• permissions to reprint images and illustrations, if any, are the responsibility of the author and should be arranged for and paid before submitting the article;
• sent electronically in MS Word file to editors

Important Dates and Timeline

• Essay proposals deadline: Friday, April 26, 2024
• Notification of accepted essay proposals: Friday, May 10, 2024
• Completed essay deadline: Friday, September 20, 2024
• Anticipated publication: Spring/Summer 2025

Essay proposals will be evaluated on relevance to topic, originality, and clarity. Essay drafts will undergo a double-blind peer review process where reviewers will evaluate originality, clarity, and documentation, and scholarly contribution to decide if the essay is suitable for publication, in need of revision, or not publishable.  

About the Journal We encourage you to take a look at past issues  here  to familiarize yourself with the journal and the published works. Per HERA’s website, “The Humanities Education and Research Association's Scholarly Journal:  Interdisciplinary Humanities is a refereed scholarly journal, published three times a year. The journal accepts articles that deal with ‘any learning activities with content that draws upon human cultural heritage, uses methods that derive from the humanistic disciplines, and has a purpose that is concerned with human values.’ Articles dealing with the interdisciplinary humanities or humanities education at all levels (K-12, college, and adult learning) are welcome, as are creative works of poetry, fiction and non-fiction that reflect the journal's interests and the themes of specific issues.” 

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The Indonesian Economy and the Surrounding Regions in the 21st Century

Essays in Honor of Iwan Jaya Azis

• Budy Prasetyo Resosudarmo 0 ,
• Yuri Mansury 1

Arndt-Corden Dept. of Economics, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

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Department of Social Sciences, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, USA

• Is one of the very few books on the economy of Southeast Asia, an increasingly important economic region
• Presents topics on the basis of their importance in the fields of regional science and economics, written by experts
• Honors Professor Iwan Jaya Azis, a leading expert on the Indonesian economy and the region

Part of the book series: New Frontiers in Regional Science: Asian Perspectives (NFRSASIPER, volume 76)

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Table of contents (16 chapters)

Front matter, iwan jaya azis: a person, an economist, and a regional scientist.

• Budy P. Resosudarmo, Yuri Mansury

The Indonesian Economy

Impacts of monetary policy on consumer demand of high- and low-income groups in indonesia.

• Gunawan Wicaksono, Kieran P. Donaghy, Clifford R. Wymer

Rapid Urbanization: The Challenges and Opportunities for Planning in Indonesian Cities

• Christopher Silver

Small- and Medium-Size Linkages with Large Firms: Revisiting Studies on Indonesian Manufacturing

• Ari Kuncoro

Indonesia and the Resource Curse: Economic and Environmental Dimensions

• Hal Hill, Donny Pasaribu

Climate Change Policies in Indonesia: Challenges and Economic Consequences

• Arianto A. Patunru, Budy P. Resosudarmo

The Status and Trend of Indonesian Provinces’ Sustainability: A Genuine Savings Approach

• Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Viktor Pirmana, Arief Anshory Yusuf

Economic Impact of the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia

• Bambang Brodjonegoro, Amalia Adininggar Widyasanti, Firman Hidayat, Rasi Tamadhika Fajar Ramadhan

Southeast Asian Economies and the Region

Indonesia and vietnam in global supply chains and the age of covid: a tale of two countries.

• Willem Thorbecke, Atsuyuki Kato

Education and Expenditure Inequality in Indonesia and the Philippines: A Comparative Analysis in an Urban and Rural Dual Framework

• Takahiro Akita, Sachiko Miyata

Impact Analysis of the Economic Eastern Corridor on the Thai Economy: An Application of Multi-Regional Input–Output Model and Dynamic Computable General Equilibrium Model

• Nattapong Puttanapong, Kanit Sangsubhan

Climate Change, Food Security, and Trade: Navigating Through Multiple Crises

• Paul Brenton, Vicky Chemutai, Mari Pangestu

Methods of Regional Economic Analysis

I won’t get caught: an agent-based model of corruption with incomplete information.

Yuri Mansury

Analyses of University-Partnered Economic Development Initiatives and Minimum-Wage Policies Under Different Assumptions of Competition and Scale Economies

• Jati Waluyo, Javier Perez Burgos, Yuri Mansury, Hee Hwa Min, Kieran Donaghy

Lessons Learned from Managing Transportation Demand for Suburban Areas of Washington, DC: Implications for Rapidly Growing Cities of the World

• Tschangho John Kim

A Complex Systems Approach to Uneven Development in Asia: Political Economy and Mathematical Models

• Haider A. Khan

This book broadens the reader’s knowledge of several important issues having to do with the economy of Indonesia and its surrounding regions, to which Professor Iwan Jaya Azis has made significant contributions in the last 40 years. The book is divided into three parts, the first of which contains several chapters describing fundamental methods in regional economics, development economics, macroeconomics, and finance. These methods are crucial in understanding the political economy of Indonesia and the neighboring regions. Among the techniques discussed are social accounting matrix (SAM) analysis, computable general equilibrium (CGE) modeling, and agent-based modeling (ABM) approaches. The second part is on several important issues related to the Indonesian economy. The topics covered are urbanization, resource booms, manufacturing, and micro and small enterprises. The book’s third part deals with the economies of several countries in the neighboring Southeast Asian region, including the Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand.

• Indonesian Economy
• Regional Science
• Regional Economics
• Southeast Asian Economies
• Development Economics

Budy Prasetyo Resosudarmo

Book Title : The Indonesian Economy and the Surrounding Regions in the 21st Century

Book Subtitle : Essays in Honor of Iwan Jaya Azis

Editors : Budy Prasetyo Resosudarmo, Yuri Mansury

Series Title : New Frontiers in Regional Science: Asian Perspectives

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-97-0122-3

Publisher : Springer Singapore

eBook Packages : Economics and Finance , Economics and Finance (R0)

Copyright Information : The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2024

Hardcover ISBN : 978-981-97-0121-6 Published: 06 April 2024

Softcover ISBN : 978-981-97-0124-7 Due: 12 May 2024

eBook ISBN : 978-981-97-0122-3 Published: 05 April 2024

Series ISSN : 2199-5974

Series E-ISSN : 2199-5982

Edition Number : 1

Number of Pages : XXXIV, 406

Number of Illustrations : 1 b/w illustrations

Topics : Regional/Spatial Science , Asian Economics , Development Economics , Economic Growth

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Essay on 21st Century Education

Students are often asked to write an essay on 21st Century Education in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on 21st Century Education

What is 21st century education.

21st Century Education is about preparing students for the modern world. It’s more than just reading, writing, and arithmetic. It includes skills like problem-solving, creativity, and using technology. This kind of education doesn’t just give you facts to remember. It teaches you how to learn and think for yourself.

Why is it Important?

In the past, people could get by with just knowing the basics. But today’s world is changing fast. We need to keep learning to keep up. 21st Century Education helps us do that. It makes us ready for the jobs of the future.

The Role of Technology

Technology is a big part of 21st Century Education. It’s not just about using computers. It’s about using all kinds of tools to help us learn. These can be things like online courses, apps, and virtual reality. These tools make learning more interesting and fun.

Skills for the Future

21st Century Education also focuses on skills for the future. These include things like teamwork, communication, and leadership. These skills are important in all kinds of jobs. They help us work well with others and make good decisions.

Preparing for the Unknown

One of the best things about 21st Century Education is that it prepares us for the unknown. We don’t know what the future will bring. But with the right skills and mindset, we can be ready for anything. This kind of education helps us be flexible and adapt to change.

250 Words Essay on 21st Century Education

21st Century Education is a new way of teaching and learning. It is different from the old way that was used in the 20th century. This new way focuses on skills like creativity, critical thinking, communication, and collaboration. These are important because they help students to be ready for the future.

In the past, education was about learning facts by heart. But now, the world is changing fast. Technology is everywhere and jobs are different from before. That’s why 21st Century Education is important. It helps students to deal with new situations and solve problems that we don’t even know about yet.

How is it Different?

In 21st Century Education, students are more active. They don’t just listen to the teacher, they also ask questions and find answers themselves. They work together in groups and use technology like computers and the internet. This makes learning more interesting and fun.

What are the Challenges?

Change is always hard. Some teachers and parents are worried about this new way of learning. They think it might be too hard or not serious enough. But research shows that 21st Century Education works well. It just needs time and patience.

In conclusion, 21st Century Education is a big change, but it is a good change. It prepares students for the future in a fun and interesting way. It might be hard at first, but with time and effort, it can lead to great success.

500 Words Essay on 21st Century Education

Understanding 21st century education.

21st century education is all about adapting to new ways of learning and teaching. It is modern and uses technology to make learning better. This type of education is designed to prepare students for a fast-changing world.

Role of Technology

Technology plays a big part in 21st century education. Computers, tablets, and smartboards are common in classrooms. They make learning more fun and interactive. For example, students can use educational apps to practice math or spelling. They can also use the internet to research topics for projects. This makes learning more interesting and helps students understand topics deeply.

21st century education focuses on teaching skills that are important for the future. These include problem-solving, critical thinking, and creativity. These skills help students to think for themselves and come up with new ideas. They also learn how to work well with others. This is important because many jobs in the future will require teamwork and innovation.

Personalized Learning

Another important part of 21st century education is personalized learning. This means that teaching is tailored to each student’s needs and interests. For example, if a student loves animals, they might learn about biology through studying animals. This makes learning more enjoyable and helps students to learn more effectively.

Global Awareness

21st century education also encourages students to be aware of the world around them. They learn about different cultures and global issues. This helps students to understand and respect people from different backgrounds. It also helps them to become responsible global citizens.

Challenges and Opportunities

There are some challenges with 21st century education. For example, not all schools have access to the latest technology. Some teachers might also find it hard to adapt to new ways of teaching. But there are also many opportunities. Technology can make learning more exciting and engaging. It can also help students to learn at their own pace and in their own way.

In conclusion, 21st century education is about preparing students for a fast-changing world. It uses technology to enhance learning and teaches important skills for the future. Despite some challenges, it offers many opportunities for students to learn and grow.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

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• USTR Releases Summaries from U.S. – Kenya Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership Negotiations

USTR Releases Summaries from U.S.-Taiwan 21st Century Trade Initiative Negotiations

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WASHINGTON – Consistent with the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to the highest levels of transparency in trade agreement negotiations, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) today released  summaries of texts  proposed by the U.S. side on labor, environment, and agriculture.   The summaries detail the negotiating proposals from the U.S. side and include updated proposals made by the U.S. side during the course of negotiations.

Negotiations between the United States and Taiwan are being conducted under the auspices of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO).

These texts follow through on the two sides’ shared commitment to pursue a high-ambition trade initiative, as outlined in the  negotiating mandate  that was established in August 2022, in order to strengthen and deepen economic and trade ties.  

These trade negotiations are being conducted consistent with the United States’ one China policy, which is guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the three U.S.-China Joint Communiques, and the Six Assurances.  

Resources: U.S.- Taiwan Initiative on 21 st Century Trade Summary of Second Set of Proposed Texts

U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade Summary of First Set of Proposed Texts

U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21 st  Century Trade First Agreement Text

Readout of Second Negotiating Round Under the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21 st Century Trade

Readout of First Negotiating Round Under the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21 st Century Trade

U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade Negotiating Mandate

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A global scramble to make humanoid robots is gearing up to be the 21st century's space race

• Humanoid robots are symbols of power and technological capability, a geopolitics expert says.
• China and the US are going head-to-head `to mass produce them, like a 21st-century space race.
• But other countries, including Saudi Arabia and Italy, are also trying to get in on the action.

The space race , an epic showdown between the US and the Soviet Union, epitomized the quest for scientific dominance and the battle for geopolitical supremacy in the 20th century.

It conjured up legendary imagery of intercontinental missiles piercing the skies, animals being launched into the earth's orbit, and Neil Armstrong's historic moonwalk.

An incident earlier this month involving a Saudi humanoid robot inappropriately touching a female reporter might not at first seem even remotely connected.

But the incident inadvertently propelled Saudi Arabia's robotic endeavors into the international spotlight, underscoring how nations around the world are jockeying to make strides in developing functional humanoid robots.

Saudi Arabia, for one, is investing heavily.

"We built a huge building at the heart of Riyadh, we hired more than 70 engineers," Elie Metri, the CEO of QSS Robotics , which made the robot and has the Saudi government's backing, told BI.

Muhammad, the robot with the wandering hand, was showcased at DeepFest , an AI conference where some of Saudi Arabia's more than 2,000 robotics companies sought to showcase the kingdom's technological prowess.

Similar projects are emerging elsewhere, from India to Nigeria, as nations vie for leadership in this burgeoning industry.

Humanoids are visual representations of breakthroughs in AI

In Italy, the Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia is working on iCub, a research-grade humanoid robot.

According to Giorgio Metta, the institute's scientific director, their primary objective is knowledge-based: to investigate whether "machine learning and AI require a physical embodiment to develop a comprehensive understanding of the world."

But Metta also acknowledges the escalating global competition to showcase innovational might, particularly in light of AI's growing economic value.

He told BI that human-like robots are particularly effective in demonstrating progress because they offer a visual and easy-to-understand representation of advancements.

"It's very easy to show that your technology is good because you see it, and there's not much to explain," he said. "If you show a computer a program, you get an answer … no matter how impressive it can be, it's not as visible as a robot."

Despite much of their work being collaborative, particularly with others in the European Union, Metta said he has been advised to exercise caution when working with one major global player in humanoid robotics: China.

"We are asked to be more careful," he said of the additional scrutiny.

It's "unfortunate" that scientists are being told to consider the sensitivities of the geopolitical situation during their research, he added.

China wants to take the lead

When it comes to humanoid robots , China is vying for the top spot, so it's no wonder other nations are getting nervous.

The country plans to mass produce advanced-level humanoids by 2025 , according to a blueprint document published by its Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in October.

Fourier Intelligence, headquartered in Shanghai, told BI that it expects to have up to 1,000 units ready for delivery this year.

CEO Zen Koh said: "China is a formidable competitor in the quest to establish dominance as a leading market force for humanoid robots."

Koh explained that many factors have contributed to China's prominence, including substantial investment in research and development, namely in AI and robotics, which he says has already given the country a leg up.

"The vast magnitude of the market offers an unmatched chance to test, improve, and expand the uses of humanoid robots," he said. "This could facilitate quick, frequent updates and enhancements, giving Chinese companies a competitive edge."

The US also wants dominance

Competing with Chinese ambitions, Agility Robotics in the US says it will produce "hundreds" of its Digit robots in 2025. The company is building a factory in Oregon that's set to open later this year.

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Agility CEO Peggy Johnson told BI: "We'll get to the hundreds in 2025 and then ramp up capacity to thousands in the years following that."

Johnson said it's well-positioned to engage customers and ramp up production and "welcomes" the competition. Amazon is testing its robots in its warehouses to help automate some functions.

Several other key players in the US have also been flexing their muscles.

This includes the $2.6 billion firm Figure AI , which recently signed an agreement with OpenAI to "develop next-generation AI models" for its robots.

The company also inked a deal with BMW to try out its robots in its manufacturing process.

Texas-based Apptronik, meanwhile, signed a partnership with Mercedes to test out how its robot Apollo can help in the production assembly line.

Tesla has its own humanoid ambitions and has previously said it wants to start selling its Optimus robot by 2027.

High stakes

In today's geopolitical landscape, Julian Mueller-Kaler, director of the Strategic Foresight Hub at the Stimson Center, said that "high technology has come to define high politics," with humanoid robots and AI representing the apex of technological development and serving as symbols of power.

The US, he said, is "defining national security through the prism of supremacy, not just in military terms and political terms, but also in economic and technological terms."

The US is strategically investing in these cutting-edge technologies as part of its bid for supremacy, he said, as well as employing other measures to impede China's growth in the field.

Over the last couple of years, the US has been implementing export controls on semiconductors to China to limit the country's high-tech capabilities.

But China, he said, has stepped up to the challenge: US sanctions supercharged China's chipmaking industry , with the majority of the fastest-growing chip firms in the world now being Chinese, according to TIME.

"They know it takes decades to build a ship fleet or aircraft carrier," Mueller-Kaler said. "The high-tech sector is where the Chinese think they have a chance to catch up."

Humanoids are the peak of a 'hype cycle'

Beijing announced last August that it was establishing a $1.39 billion fund to develop a hub for the humanoid robotics industry.

At the time, the city was already home to 100 robotics enterprises.

But Li Boyang, president of EX Robots, a humanoid robot company based in China's Liaoning Province, told CMG that China faces challenges in getting robots out of laboratories and into mass production.

Boston Dynamics agrees. Deploying robots at scale is "an incredibly difficult challenge," a representative told BI.

While obstacles to mass adoption of the technology exist, the potential rewards are substantial.

The mass production of humanoids could increase a nation's perceived power by increasing its workforce and population, Engineered Arts CEO Will Jackson told BI.

"If you could manufacture your population, suddenly you've got all of these kinds of digital citizens, or you can raise the importance of your country. They don't complain, go on strike and don't ask for workers rights," he said.

But Jackson warned that we're at the peak of what management consultant firm Gartner calls a "hype cycle," characterized by five phases: technology trigger, the peak of inflation expectations, the trough of disillusionment, the slope of enlightenment, and the plateau of productivity.

Humanoids are in the inflated expectations stage of the cycle, according to Jackson, with lots of talk on what the technology could do.

"They are not deployed," he said. "It's not a technology that's actually being used. Most of the humanoid robot companies out there now haven't ever even shipped the robot. There's a lot of optimism that is probably not very well founded."

Even so, the industry is expected to be boosted by Nvidia's recently unveiled Project GR00T , according to Jackson and Agility Robotics' CTO Melonee Wise.

It could help the sector reach a point of inflection by building a general-purpose foundation model for humanoid robots , they said, which would help them learn from past interactions and perform everyday tasks.

Saudi Arabia won't give up

While the competition to unleash humanoid robots on the world looks like a two-horse race between the US and China, Saudi Arabia refuses to be sidelined.

Metri, of QSS, said: "We have all the capabilities, we have the brains, we have the resources, we have a very huge market. Saudi Arabia today is competing with Europe, it's competing with the US. It's between the biggest markets globally."

The Saudi market, fueled by significant investments, is projected to have revenues nearing $120 million this year, according to Statista. The markets in China and the US have already surpassed the billion-dollar mark.

But Metri remains undeterred by the global competition: "Why are we doing this from Saudi Arabia? Because why not?"

Watch: Why this robot could save your life one day

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