From Eternity to Here: Shrinkage in American Thinking About Higher Education

Following WWII, America committed itself to a system of mass liberal education with a core component of the humanities, a system designed to improve the quality of people's lives and strengthen the social bond. This linkage of private and public ends was both symbolized and secured by the combi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Representations (Berkeley, Calif.) Calif.), 2011-11, Vol.116 (1), p.42-61
Main Author: Harpham, Geoffrey Galt
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Art education
Colleges
Educational Systems
Eternity
Funding
Higher Education
Inequality
Liberal arts education
Liberalism
Museums
Philanthropy
Research universities
Rhetoric
Society
United States of America
Universities
Wealth
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Summary:Following WWII, America committed itself to a system of mass liberal education with a core component of the humanities, a system designed to improve the quality of people's lives and strengthen the social bond. This linkage of private and public ends was both symbolized and secured by the combination of public and private support for higher education. Today, the American system is in jeopardy because the private and public entities that support the university have largely turned away from the educational mission even as they have dramatically increased their support for research and other activities. The resulting alteration in the character of the university necessarily comes at a cost to the democratic aspirations and the vision of human flourishing that higher education has traditionally served.
ISSN:0734-6018
1533-855X
DOI:10.1525/rep.2011.116.1.42