Foundations & History of Higher Education
Thelin, The History of American Higher Education
Curriculum: External factors such as religion, industry, military, and student activities have shaped the development of higher education curriculum.
Finance: Higher education institutions have been largely dependent upon philanthropic support that has reflected and exceeded economic industry due to individual donors, foundations, and industrial leaders.
Students/Student Life: The tendency of students in each era to organize by shared values, beliefs, and interests was directly influenced by the development of institutions and personal heritage.
Access: Access to higher education gradually expanded in the areas of race, gender, income, and region due to land grants, scholarships, and civil rights; however, access was still limited due to social segregation within the walls of institutions.
Religion: The nature of religious intolerance in higher education shifted over time from within Christianity to secular culture causing religious influence on colleges to diminish, inversely impacting other aspects of higher education.
Peterkin, "Reading and Writing Institutional Histories"
Four Kinds of Universities:
Women’s and black colleges share stories of repression.
Liberal arts colleges are like a Garden of Eden—nurtured and nourished
State universities embody the aspirations of the public
Institutions of higher education learning as myth
Best of humanity: creativity, learning, generating new ideas
Universities are living, breathing organisms
Institutional histories paint a picture of a moment in time
Rules to Live By
Respect the old guys
Let there be life!
Walk the ground
Get to know the archivists
⭐️ The best institutional histories are able to combine compelling stories with sharp analysis of the institution's purpose and place in society. ⭐️
Humphrey, "Conducting and Interpreting Archival Research"
Prepare for the archives
Spend time in the archives
Analyze what you found
⭐️ Archival research is one step toward recreating moments in the past. Proper preparation prevents poor performance. ⭐️
Day, “The Yale Report of 1828”
Lockstep
Cultural preservation
Discipline first, skills second
The habits of thinking need to be formed (discipline and furniture of the mind)
Lay a solid foundation in literature and science
Emphasis on breadth and comprehensiveness—everything sheds light on everything
Emphasis on citizenship—makes him a better man in society
Preparing all people for all things
⭐️ The Classics are essential/most important and college should be seen as laying a foundation for further study of the practical arts. ⭐️
Winterer, "Humanist Revolution in America, 1820-1860"
Lockstep-ish
Innovative preservation
Discipline applied
New-Classicists
New focus on literature and history, not just languages for the sake of languages.
Concerned with the practical.
A need to "embibe the Greek spirit!"
Language is not the goal of study, but the beginning.
⭐️ Students need to see the languages as an avenue to antiquity, rather than merely timeless virtue. ⭐️
Eliot, "The Elective System as Liberty in Education"
Electives
Innovation
Skills first, discipline still important
Freedom of choice in study.
A level of student autonomy.
Students get to choose their course of study and what classes they take–but this doesn't mean the curriculum was "free" in the same way.
Some students might abuse this, but others will excel and take it seriously.
Deeper, individual study; only the students themselves know what they are most interested in.
⭐️ We should transform colleges with a uniform curriculum into a university without a prescribed course of study. ⭐️