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.