What Dark Academia Says About Elite Education

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The internet aesthetic that romanticizes education, Dark Academia, channels the glamour of Oxbridge intellectuals, mixed with a heavy dose of gothic mystery. Dark Academia yearns for a less practical, more beautiful education, and while presenting an idealized vision of scholarship, it sheds light on the failings of the actual academic world. It replicates the trappings of exclusionary institutions, but in itself is democratic and accessible. Here’s our Take on Dark Academia and what its darkness illuminates.

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[thetake]

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[whytho]

The thing is I always thought I hated studying in school, but turns out the idea of needing to study just to pass a test that everyone pressure us for is what I hate, I do actually like the idea of exploring and reading more

[jessicawest]

Dark academia is romantic, because how many of us would LOVE to pursue higher education and be completely absorbed in topics that fascinate and stimulate us, but can't because the financial side of higher education makes that inancceible to so many of us. Plus it really is a cute aesthetic 🥺

[LuneFromage]

As a philosopher, that's exactly what I want to teach my students--- the joy and beauty of learning and thinking deeply about the world. The one thing I dislike most about philosophy is how it's treated as some elite subject, but philosophy is a subject of the people! I want to make philosophy accessible to all people. I am hoping to teach at a community college or to teach at a high school (English infused with philosophy) so that I can help guide people (especially young people) to find truth and meaning and beauty in an often bleak capitalist landscape.

[suricato]

Wild take, but: Indiana Jones is the ultimate dark academia hero. A college professor that goes on archaeological adventures in the name of both knowledge and imperialism. Yet no one is giving him the credit.

[tm-ityj]

Our grandchildren will watch this at school and make projects about different aesthetics

[KarlaIvethXD]

"People study STEM cause it pays"
Me, a third world conservationist biologist: broke af

[secondsflat]

I’m def older than Gen Z, but what I like about this aesthetic is that, at its best, it’s a way of reclaiming the humanities and the pleasure of intellectual achievement for its own sake. The humanities don’t need to be the realm of the elite. With technology and access to books and media like never before, it’s time to democratize and diversify intellectual life for everyone regardless of background and class. If you want to learn Ancient Greek, why not also try learning Classical Chinese? If you want to read the Romantic poets, why not also try post-colonial African literature. Vintage aesthetics need not have vintage values.

[andreblackaller]

The market is turning all of us into robots, what’s more important passion or survival? That’s the real question facing youth.

[RisIgrec]

whoa thanks for including my video and great analysis :) for me, dark academia started with my love for vintage/analog things and any books including boarding schools. it’s kind of a fantasy of living in this “pretentious” boys club, even though at that time i wouldn’t have been allowed into any of those schools. especially as a kid that was often lonely and grew up on books (aka harry potter lol) i loved the idea of having a group of mischievous friends and running around beautiful libraries! now i go to a school that looks very much like the cliche dark academia look, and the aesthetic helps me to keep my spirits up in an environment where the history of the class and wealth associated with it is VERY present (and is a background i do not come from). so it’s been kind of a fantastical escape for me to imagine a world where the aesthetic exists without the elitism.

[clarelim]

There's a saying in the vintage community, "Vintage clothes, not values".
IMO, it's perfectly fine to appreciate the looks of Dark Academia and even the hobbies such as typewriting and reading literature. It is, however, important to be aware of the elitism that early Dark Academia perpetuated, and to break that portion of the aesthetic.

I think that there are ways to reclaim Dark Academia and to make it more widely accessible to different people, such as including literature of all genders and races and incorporating various cultures in the aesthetic.

At the end of the day, the Academia subculture boils down to a passion for intellectual achievement just for the sake of it, not to get paid and I think there's something quite idealistic yet cool about it. We should deconstruct Dark Academia and reconstruct it with accessibility and inclusion. With this in mind, I think that anyone can participate in this aesthetic, and make it their own.

And in my personal experience, Dark Academia brings me joy because it validates the pursuit of Humanities. I've always loved poetry and writing and literature in general, but it's starting to die off and it's becoming simply a luxury or a hobby. It's no longer something practical to pursue. Dark Academia gives me an escape from the overtly utilitarian society we live in today, and it gives me a community in which I can pursue the studies of literature and poetry.

[maloneaqua]

I’m 30 so not Gen Z, but for lovers of learning, I’m guessing dark academia is less about the aesthetics, than a reflection of our desperate longing.
In a life without capitalism and the mounting obligation to make as much money as possible to take care of the people you love and avoid homelessness, many of us would love to be perpetual students…waking up with no other obligations than to fill our minds.

[mariephillange]

I didn’t know that the dark academia aesthetic was related to the high elites education and literature, i loved the aesthetic do to its gothic architecture, the feeling that is always raining and the beautiful clothes.

[fortune_roses]

When looking "smart" is glamorized while actual education is being devalued

[danigirii]

"what's dark about dark academia?"

me: literally, their filter.

the take:

[accordingtosophia]

English major here! I'm sort of conflicted with the idea of Dark Academia- it does appeal to me due to some of my interests (literature, foreign languages, mythology, classical music, etc), but also, I have noticed that there's an unhealthy lifestyle that seems to be perpetrated by some influencers, like a romanticization of smoking, drinking, and sacrificing sleep for long hours of studying. So, that I'm definitely not on board with. But on the positive side, I am absolutely thrilled that so many people in the community advocate for diversifying the canon! Like, don't get me wrong, I love Shakespeare and Wilde as much as the next literature nerd, but at the same time, I want more focus on Chinua Achebe or Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz. Dark Academia seems very Eurocentric, which is what had me worried in the first place, because if you romanticize Victorian England, you often end up ignoring the colonialism and prejudice of the day, and I was worried that's what the aesthetic was doing. The pursuit of knowledge is a wonderful thing, but, as the video said, higher education is often rooted in elitism or colonialism. So I'm glad we're seeing a deconstruction of that and a push to make academia more diverse and accessible. Just make sure to go easy on the coffee and cigarettes!

[MegArbo]

First. Interesting. I am in the performing arts. The lack of respect for the arts and humanities has has been apparent for a long time in the US. I wanted to go to an Ivy League institution; went to a state university. I am still paying off my - now old - BA.... College was not worth it for me at all...Plus there was very little that was intellectually/esthetically enriching at my uni, I am sorry to say.

[sunnysocoolio]

I really love how they included a lot of different youtubers/tiktokers who have contributed to the rise and different approaches/possibilities of the aesthetic- it makes the video feel holistic

[lydiathompson]

hyper-labelization is a term I am coining. We are much too obsessed with categories and labels for everything. We crave to belong to a community, but doing this through aesthetic is not the best way.

[Pearlygirl]

As a person who studied Anthropology at Cornell, romanticized being sad and broken, took up smoking at the clock tower and walking the grounds at night....this ain’t it. I was a depressed person of color in a white elite institution, and you can’t tell me this aesthetic isn’t at least a little harmful.