College: What It Was, Is, and Should Be - Second Edition
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About this ebook
The strengths and failures of the American college, and why liberal education still matters
As the commercialization of American higher education accelerates, more and more students are coming to college with the narrow aim of obtaining a preprofessional credential. The traditional four-year college experience—an exploratory time for students to discover their passions and test ideas and values with the help of teachers and peers—is in danger of becoming a thing of the past.
In College, prominent cultural critic Andrew Delbanco offers a trenchant defense of such an education, and warns that it is becoming a privilege reserved for the relatively rich. In describing what a true college education should be, he demonstrates why making it available to as many young people as possible remains central to America's democratic promise.
In a brisk and vivid historical narrative, Delbanco explains how the idea of college arose in the colonial period from the Puritan idea of the gathered church, how it struggled to survive in the nineteenth century in the shadow of the new research universities, and how, in the twentieth century, it slowly opened its doors to women, minorities, and students from low-income families. He describes the unique strengths of America’s colleges in our era of globalization and, while recognizing the growing centrality of science, technology, and vocational subjects in the curriculum, he mounts a vigorous defense of a broadly humanistic education for all. Acknowledging the serious financial, intellectual, and ethical challenges that all colleges face today, Delbanco considers what is at stake in the urgent effort to protect these venerable institutions for future generations.
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The William G. Bowen Series
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Titles in the series (37)
Down from Bureaucracy: The Ambiguity of Privatization and Empowerment Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Game of Life: College Sports and Educational Values Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Larger Sense of Purpose: Higher Education and Society Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUniversities in the Marketplace: The Commercialization of Higher Education Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5The Sacred and the Secular University Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Student Aid Game: Meeting Need and Rewarding Talent in American Higher Education Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUniversities and Their Leadership Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Barbed-Wire College: Reeducating German POWs in the United States During World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Promise and Dilemma: Perspectives on Racial Diversity and Higher Education Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnlocking the Gates: How and Why Leading Universities Are Opening Up Access to Their Courses Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Source of the River: The Social Origins of Freshmen at America's Selective Colleges and Universities Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Locus of Authority: The Evolution of Faculty Roles in the Governance of Higher Education Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Reclaiming the Game: College Sports and Educational Values Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Crossing the Finish Line: Completing College at America's Public Universities Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lessons Learned: Reflections of a University President Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Higher Education in America: Revised Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lesson Plan: An Agenda for Change in American Higher Education Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Game of Loans: The Rhetoric and Reality of Student Debt Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Higher Education in the Digital Age: Updated Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Great Brain Race: How Global Universities Are Reshaping the World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPhilology: The Forgotten Origins of the Modern Humanities Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings"Keep the Damned Women Out": The Struggle for Coeducation Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pathways to Reform: Credits and Conflict at The City University of New York Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe History of American Higher Education: Learning and Culture from the Founding to World War II Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWisdom's Workshop: The Rise of the Modern University Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Two Cheers for Higher Education: Why American Universities Are Stronger Than Ever—and How to Meet the Challenges They Face Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAn Academic Life: A Memoir Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
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