This article examines the ways in which Rousseau's "Emile" continues to speak to us in the twenty-first century. In the first part, I examine the concept at the heart of Rousseau's theory of education: "negative education" or the process of de- or unsocializing individuals and of putting them in touch with the nature of things rather than with the various distortions produced by traditional education. I then describe and reflect upon a course that "Emile" inspired me to teach, one in which I remained silent for the entire semester. I conclude with a much broader exploration of the light this text sheds on our current educational landscape.