Review
Winner of the 2013 O.L. Davis, Jr. Book Award, American Association for Teaching and Curriculum Winner of the 2013 Gold Medal in Education II (Commentary/Theory), Independent Publisher Book Awards Winner of the 2013 Philip E. Frandson Award for Literature in the Field of Continuing Education, University Professional and Continuing Higher Education Association Finalist for the 2012 Book of the Year Award in Education, ForeWord Reviews Honorable Mention for the 2012 Award for Best Professional/Scholarly Book in Education, Association of American Publishers One of Choice’s Outstanding Academic Titles for 2013 “At a time when many are trying to reduce the college years to a training period for economic competition, Delbanco reminds readers of the ideal of democratic education… The American college is too important ‘to be permitted to give up on its own ideals,’ Delbanco writes. He has underscored these ideals by tracing their history. Like a great teacher, he has inspired us to try to live up to them.”–Michael S. Roth, New York Times Book Review “The book does have a thesis, but it is not thesis-ridden. It seeks to persuade not by driving a stake into the opponent’s position or even paying much attention to it, but by offering us examples of the experience it celebrates. Delbanco’s is not an argument for, but a display of, the value of a liberal arts education.”–Stanley Fish, New York Times “A lucid, fair, and well-informed account of the problems, and it offers a full-throated defense of the idea that you don’t go to college just to get a job. Delbanco’s brevity, wit, and curiosity about the past and its lessons for the present give his book a humanity all too rare in the literature on universities.”–Anthony Grafton, New York Review of Books “[I]nsightful and rewarding… Delbanco’s evocation of these nineteenth-century precedents is of central importance, for they allow him to demonstrate that liberal education, far from being an elite indulgence, is inseparable from our nation’s most cherished and deeply rooted democratic precepts. In the face of today’s hyper-accelerated, ultra-competitive global society, the preservation of opportunities for self-development and autonomous reflection is a value we underestimate at our peril.”–Richard Wolin, The Nation “Has the democratic ideal of a classical education, open to rich and poor alike, become a thing of the past? That’s the scenario proposed by esteemed literary scholar Delbanco in this engaging assessment of how American higher education has lost its way… He makes a strong case that the purely materialist approach to education assures that the disparity between rich and poor students only widens, with ‘merit-based’ financial aid and scholarships all going disproportionately to students from families with money… This is an impassioned call for a corrupt system to heal itself.”–Kirkus Reviews “To renew higher education in an age of secular pluralism, Delbanco summons his colleagues to a defense of the university’s role in fostering humane and democratic impulses… Delbanco’s agenda for reform–curricular, pedagogical, financial, and technological–will stimulate a much-needed national dialogue.”–Bryce Christensen, Booklist “Delbanco explores American higher education in a manner befitting a scholar of Melville and the Puritans, with a humanist’s belief in lessons from history and in asking what the right thing is to do… College has always been a microcosm of society, so a book about it is also about how we’re doing as a country.”–Clare Malone, American Prospect “A thoughtful and insightful look at American college’s exceptionalism and pitfalls… Whether you’re in college, thinking about college or just paying for it, it’s a good read to help better understand one of America’s oldest and finest institutions. And if we want it to stay that way, we all better get schooled about it.”–Kacie Flynn, Vox Magazine, Missourian “The ‘Was’ part is an illuminating reminder of the Puritan origin of early colleges, such as Harvard and Princeton, where only wealthy males needed apply and where religion, literature and philosophy dominated the curricula. The ‘Is’ section considers the prohibitive cost, the woefully underprepared applicants, the self-centered teachers and the dominance of research over instruction of undergraduates at today’s colleges. Obviously the ‘Should Be’ is Delbanco’s motive in this effort… He dreams of the day when college teachers are back in the classrooms, working collaboratively to bring their youngsters into this new century.”–Kathleen Daley, Newark Star Ledger “Recommended for academic and general audiences as a thoughtful, literate, and gracefully written reminder of what higher education needs to be.”–Elizabeth R. Hayford, Library Journal “[College] will give a lot of pleasure to anyone who cares about undergraduate education. It offers a fascinating history of the creation and growth of US colleges and universities, some sombre reflections on the tension between the desire of many universities to be known as great research institutions and the needs of their undergraduates, and some angry thoughts about the way in which elite education reinforces economic inequality… Delbanco writes with the exasperated energy of a radical assistant professor half his age, and displays an unforced affection for undergraduate students that is deeply engaging and permeates the book with an infectious optimism about the possibilities of liberal education in spite of all the obstacles that he lists.”–Alan Ryan, Times Higher Education “Refreshingly, Delbanco’s examination of what college was doesn’t turn into a longing backward look… This book is a result of what Delbanco says is two decades of visiting more than 100 colleges of all types, from community colleges to the undergraduate divisions of research universities. It is also the product of extensive reading: He seems to have digested every self-flagellating and self-congratulating essay, every cri de coeur and jeremiad about higher ed that has been produced since scholars sat down together in collegium.”–Sebastian Stockman, Kansas City Star “This is a brief, well-researched book, and an insightful account of the factors that shape the current higher educational landscape.”–Dennis O’Brien, Commonweal “[An] eloquent book–a combination of jeremiad, elegy and call to arms.”–Alan Cate, Cleveland Plain Dealer “In College, [Delbanco] looks to the lengthy and dynamic history of higher education in America as a lens through which to examine its current crises and unsettled future.”–Serena Golden, Inside Higher Ed “‘Every year the teacher gets older while the students stay the same age.’ This has always been true, but Delbanco’s observation has a poignant weight today when college is always justified as being for something, whether for the economy, or for democracy, or for social mobility, and not as a place that exists as a community asking questions together, trying to unify knowledge to make sense of our lives–in short, as a place where we pursue the truth.”–Angus Kennedy, Spiked Review of Books “Andrew Delbanco does a marvelous job tracing the evolution of one of the most treasured institutions in the United States, ‘college,’ in terms of the ideal of such an institution and the challenges it is facing… Delbanco’s book would be a great one for students and scholars in the fields of educational philosophy, history of education, educational policy, and other related fields. It would also be a good read for anyone who is interested in the development of higher education in the United States.”–Shouping Hu, Teachers College Record “What commends [t]his book is its richness of reference and its willingness to charge colleges and universities with lapses that should sow insomnia among administrators.”–James Morris, Wilson Quarterly “College: What It Was, Is, and Should Be gives a clear picture of all the forces, both within and outside the university, working against the liberal arts.”–Joseph Epstein, Weekly Standard “Andrew Delbanco’s recent book is to be praised, for it reminds us that college should be about character formation and not a surrender to a customer service mentality that inflates accomplishments to please future employers, placate doting parents and repair fragile egos… Enlightening.”–Robert J. Parmach, America magazine “Well researched, succinct, and eloquently written, this little book should be in every library in every institution of higher learning. It would be an appropriate book for all new faculty members so that they can quickly come to understand the professional situation they are now in… Delbanco’s intention is to avoid writing a jeremiad, elegy, funeral dirge, or call to arms. He has succeeded. His realistic account of the current state of affairs is indeed sobering.”–Choice
From the Inside Flap
COURSE USE ENDORSEMENT: “We were the first to use College in a first year writing program. The book has been widely successful and served as a wonderful platform for classroom discussions about why students are in school, what do they want to learn, and who they think they want to become. Great praise to Andy Delbanco for writing such a compact book containing both history and wisdom.”–Eli C. Goldblatt, Director of First-Year Writing and a professor of English at Temple University
COURSE USE ENDORSEMENT: “Andrew Delbanco’s College offers first year undergraduates multiple perspectives onto an experience that each one of them is encountering for the very first time. It is a sophisticated but accessible text that speaks in multiple registers, challenging faculty, professional staff, graduate students, and undergraduates of all ages to think about the past, present, and future of the institution in which they work and live. As a common reading, College provides a framework for the question that every freshman in some way is asking throughout the year–what should college be? That very big question is at the center of a book that asks undergraduates to confront the ethical dilemmas posed by the increasing costs of a higher education that ever fewer people can afford. It also challenges students who will be our future leaders to consider what such inequality might portend for an American democracy whose vitality requires an educated majority citizenry.”–Frank Wcislo, Dean of The Ingram Commons, Associate Professor of History and European Studies, Vanderbilt University
COURSE USE ENDORSEMENT: “I have been using the book in a freshman seminar in which we are exploring college. Most of the texts we are using are academic satire novels, but we are using Delbanco’s book to help us talk about the place of college in American culture. Although some of the students are not as interested in the historical background, they do find his discussion of the current state of college to be interesting and informative. For example, nearly all of my students are on some form of financial aid, and when they read Delbanco’s examination of the costs of college, they seem to wake up intellectually. For them, Delbanco’s critique speaks directly to their own experiences and frustrations, and they appreciate learning the contexts. More to the point, they deeply appreciate seeing their anxieties about the costs of college are taken seriously enough to warrant such careful attention by Delbanco. My students also found Delbanco’s analysis of teaching and learning methods interesting and informative. They have their own opinions about what creates a good classroom experience, but they had never before seen someone examine different classroom methods in a systematic fashion. Delbanco’s discussion of “lateral learning” seemed to provoke the most interesting discussion, and we spent almost an entire class session talking about why that might work in some classes but not others and why they liked and disliked that method of classroom management. Delbanco also spoke at one of our campus colloquia, where he was well received. In the question and answer after his talk, one of my students asked a question, and he was impressed by how seriously Delbanco took his question and how carefully he answered. Delbanco’s serious response highlights what my students most appreciated in his book. He takes the entire concept of education seriously and demonstrates a deep understanding of not just the state of the university as it applies to faculty and administrators but also the way it affects the largest–and most important–constituency: the students. It was a revelation to my students that someone in Delbanco’s position would take the trouble to think about what it means to be a student.”–Richard M. Magee, Ph.D., Associate Professor of English, Director of the Thomas More Honors Livin
From the Back Cover
COURSE USE ENDORSEMENT: “We were the first to use College in a first year writing program. The book has been widely successful and served as a wonderful platform for classroom discussions about why students are in school, what do they want to learn, and who they think they want to become. Great praise to Andy Delbanco for writing such a compact book containing both history and wisdom.”–Eli C. Goldblatt, Director of First-Year Writing and a professor of English at Temple University
COURSE USE ENDORSEMENT: “Andrew Delbanco’s College offers first year undergraduates multiple perspectives onto an experience that each one of them is encountering for the very first time. It is a sophisticated but accessible text that speaks in multiple registers, challenging faculty, professional staff, graduate students, and undergraduates of all ages to think about the past, present, and future of the institution in which they work and live. As a common reading,College provides a framework for the question that every freshman in some way is asking throughout the year–what should college be? That very big question is at the center of a book that asks undergraduates to confront the ethical dilemmas posed by the increasing costs of a higher education that ever fewer people can afford. It also challenges students who will be our future leaders to consider what such inequality might portend for an American democracy whose vitality requires an educated majority citizenry.”–Frank Wcislo, Dean of The Ingram Commons, Associate Professor of History and European Studies, Vanderbilt University
COURSE USE ENDORSEMENT: “I have been using the book in a freshman seminar in which we are exploring college. Most of the texts we are using are academic satire novels, but we are using Delbanco’s book to help us talk about the place of college in American culture. Although some of the students are not as interested in the historical background, they do find his discussion of the current state of college to be interesting and informative. For example, nearly all of my students are on some form of financial aid, and when they read Delbanco’s examination of the costs of college, they seem to wake up intellectually. For them, Delbanco’s critique speaks directly to their own experiences and frustrations, and they appreciate learning the contexts. More to the point, they deeply appreciate seeing their anxieties about the costs of college are taken seriously enough to warrant such careful attention by Delbanco. My students also found Delbanco’s analysis of teaching and learning methods interesting and informative. They have their own opinions about what creates a good classroom experience, but they had never before seen someone examine different classroom methods in a systematic fashion. Delbanco’s discussion of “lateral learning” seemed to provoke the most interesting discussion, and we spent almost an entire class session talking about why that might work in some classes but not others and why they liked and disliked that method of classroom management. Delbanco also spoke at one of our campus colloquia, where he was well received. In the question and answer after his talk, one of my students asked a question, and he was impressed by how seriously Delbanco took his question and how carefully he answered. Delbanco’s serious response highlights what my students most appreciated in his book. He takes the entire concept of education seriously and demonstrates a deep understanding of not just the state of the university as it applies to faculty and administrators but also the way it affects the largest–and most important–constituency: the students. It was a revelation to my students that someone in Delbanco’s position would take the trouble to think about what it means to be a student.”–Richard M. Magee, Ph.D., A
About the Author
Andrew Delbanco is the Mendelson Family Chair of American Studies and the Julian Clarence Levi Professor in the Humanities at Columbia University. His many books include “Melville: His World and Work” (Vintage), which won the Lionel Trilling Award and was a finalist for the “Los Angeles Times” book prize in biography. He is a recipient of the 2011 National Humanities Medal for his writing that spans the literature of Melville and Emerson to contemporary issues in higher education.
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