American Higher Education: A History

by Christopher J. Lucas

The roots of controversy surrounding higher education in the US extend deep into the past. This original, incisive history goes far in offering a needed sense of perspective on current debates over such issues as access, costs, academic quality, social equity, and curricula. Eminently readable and always lively, this timely historical account is sure to be an invaluable resource for assessing the present condition and future prospects of American colleges and universities.

Genres: History, Education, Nonfiction, Reference

410 pages, Paperback

Published April 2, 2006

Reviews

[Karyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty interesting summary/overview about the evolution of American higher education. Traces its roots back to the Greeks & the middle ages, asks interesting questions, and draws the conclusion that professors have mostly thought their students inept, and students have mostly found their professors to be cold task-masters. According to most accounts, students have been using college/higher education as an excuse to prolong adolescence and binge drink since pretty much forever. Made me feel better about my students: they're just following historical precedent.

[Faye · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is thorough but i THINK it would be more comprehensible if it includes summaries in each section.

[Michael Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Recommended read for educators and parents

I wholeheartedly recommend this book by Christopher Lucas. It was the primary textbook in my recent Historical Perspectives Higher Education class. Although there are no charts or diagrams, the text presents the historical data extremely well. It is divided into four parts: 1) Historical Origins and Antecedents, 2) American Higher Education - The Formative Period, 3) American Higher Education - Maturation and Development, and 4) Contemporary Challenges and Issues.

My favorite portion was how the author explained the historical journey through higher education which provided me with a deeper appreciation for the traditional seven Liberal Arts education:
- Trivium (Grammar, Logic/Dialectic, Rhetoric)
- Quadrivium (Arithmetic, Music, Geometry, Astronomy).

Although the Tablet-House of Mesopotamia and the House of Books of Ancient Egypt influenced formal education in the ancient world, I think the Greek philosophy schools that sprouted from the fifth century BC had the most direct influence on higher education in Europe and America. There were several and often competing philosophies typically named after the founder or meeting place. The Stoics (truth comes from removing desire and passion), Epicureans (purging pain and sorrow was the pathway to truth), Skeptics (truth was unattainable due to flawed human reason), and Sophists (financially compensated instructors lecturing relative truth and rhetorical persuasion).

Then there was Socrates who promoted intellectual inquiry by asking questions to define morality – the Socratic Method. Socrates' student-teacher lineage went to Plato’s idealism and his forms. Next, Aristotle founded natural realism and logic. Until Plato founded his Academy or school (gymnasion), philosophy instruction would occur in public places (stoas) such as the marketplace (agora) or a temple colonnade. Plato and Aristotle have the singular accomplishment of influencing higher education by extolling the virtue of public education for the entire populous (hoi polloi).

The author continues with how the medieval university systems evolved, how the colonial colleges in Colonial North America developed, and how higher education in the USA changed over the past two centuries. Note only is this progression interesting from an educator's perspective but from parents of school-aged/college children as well. The last line by Lucas succinctly defends why we must study the evolution of higher education to navigate modern challenges: "Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose" which means the more things change, the more they remain the same.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chapters 5-7 are best