The Idea of the American University

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. Their mordant reflections paint a picture of the American university in crisis. This book is essential reading for thoughtful citizens, scholars, and educational policymakers.

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