The Idea of the American University

Contributions by John Agresto, William B. Allen, Michael P. Foley Baylor University, Gary D. Glenn, Susan E. Hanssen, Mark C. Henrie, Peter Augustine Lawler Berry College, William Mathie, Rev. James V. Schall, Bradley C. S. Watson Philip M. McKenna Professor of Politics, Saint Vincent College, Peter Wood Edited by Bradley C.S. Watson Philip M. McKenna Professor of Politics, Saint Vincent College

Publication date:

28 December 2010

Length of book:

174 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

Dimensions:

241x162mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9780739149157

As John Henry Newman reflected on 'The Idea of a University' more than a century and a half ago, Bradley C. S. Watson brings together some of the nation's most eminent thinkers on higher education to reflect on the nature and purposes of the American university today. They detail the life and rather sad times of the American university, its relationship to democracy, and the place of the liberal arts within it. Their mordant reflections paint a picture of the American university in crisis. But they also point toward a renewal of the university by redirecting it toward those things that resist the passions of the moment, or the pull of mere utility. This book is essential reading for thoughtful citizens, scholars, and educational policymakers.

1 Acknowledgments
2 Introduction: The American University in Crisis
Part 3 Part I: The Life and Times of the American University
Chapter 4 Chapter 1. Universitas sine Universo: On the Home of Truth When There Is No Truth
Chapter 5 Chapter 2. The End of the American Core Curriculum
Chapter 6 Chapter 3. From Civilizational Memory and the Upward Lifting of Souls, to Upward Mobility, to Upending Social Mores: The Going Down of University Education in One Professor's Lifetime
Chapter 7 Chapter 4. Roller of Big Cigars: The American University as Cheerful Mortician
Chapter 8 Chapter 5. Eccentric Education-The American Way
Part 9 Part II: Higher Education and Democracy
Chapter 10 Chapter 6. Socrates in America
Chapter 11 Chapter 7. Human Dignity and Higher Education Today
Chapter 12 Chapter 8. Now that the University Has Become the High School, Where Do We Get an Education?
Part 13 Part III: The University and the Liberal Arts
Chapter 14 Chapter 9. St. Augustine, the University, and the So-Called Liberal Arts
Chapter 15 Chapter 10. Toward an American Liberal Education, Or, Why God Hates the Liberal Arts
16 About the Contributors
17 About the Editor

This volume deserves the attention of all those who care about the fate of liberal education in our time. The thoughtful scholars included in this work show that the once clear and purposive western universities, which were dedicated to the search for truth and elevation of the human mind and soul, are now dedicated to nothing at all, unless it be to a kind of intellectual promiscuity. Nonetheless, this volume contains within it the seeds of hope for recapturing the purpose of the liberal arts in modern democratic societies, and therewithal, a recommitment to the highest human aspirations.