Since its publication in 1918, Thorstein Veblen's The Higher Learning in America has remained a text that every serious student of the American university must confront. Intellectual historian Richard Teichgraeber brings us the first scholarly edition of Veblen's classic, thoroughly edited, annotated, and indexed. An extensive introduction discusses the book's composition and publishing history, Veblen's debts to earlier critics of the American university, and the place ofThe Higher Learning in America in current debates about the American university.Veblen's insights into the American university system at the outset of the twentieth century are as provocative today as they were when first published. Insisting that institutions of higher learning should be dedicated solely to the disinterested pursuit of knowledge, he urged American universities to abandon commitments to extraneous pursuits such as athletics, community service, and vocational education. He also believed that the corporate model of governance-with university boards of trustees dominated by well-to-do businessmen and university presidents who functioned essentially as businessmen in academic dress-mandated unsavoury techniques of salesmanship and self-promotion that threatened to reduce institutions of higher learning to the status of competitive business enterprises.With a detailed chronology, suggested readings, and comprehensive notes identifying events, individuals, and institutions to which Veblen alludes, this volume is sure to become the standard teaching text for Veblen's classic work and an invaluable resource for students of both the history and the current workings of the American university.
List of Illustrations Editor's Note Suggested Readings Thorstein Veblen Chronology Introduction Veblen in Historical Context The Composition of The Higher Learning in America The Professors' Literature of Protest Veblen and the Professors' Literature of Protest What Set Veblen Apart? Why Read Veblen Today? The Higher Learning in America Preface I. Introductory II. The Governing Boards III. The Academic Administration and Policy IV. Academic Prestige and the Material Equipment V. The Academic Personnel VI. The Portion of the Scientist VII. Vocational Training VIII. Summary and Trial Balance Index
""The introduction and annotations by Teichgraeber (Tulane Univ.)are likely to ensure that this will be the standard edition of Veblen going forward; given the degree to which it presages modern criticisms of academic institutions, it is a must read for any student of higher education.-á In addition, it is affordable enough to sit on the bookshelf of anyone with administrative responsibility on a college campus.-á The book is 100 years old, but the arguments made are regularly heard on 21st-century college campuses.-á Teichgraeber and Johns Hopkins are to be congratulated for bringing this book back to people's attention, and every academic library should have a copy.-á""
