Some Americans have always wanted their schools to provide a liberal education, giving students opportunities to read great books, study the academic disciplines, and expand their minds. But many others, perhaps most of us, have looked for ways to avoid the slow, hard work of academic learning. As the historian Robert Hampel explains, we tend to prefer educational shortcuts, from taking correspondence courses, to buying CliffsNotes, to trying to become well-read in just 15 minutes a day.