Making Harvard Modern (Paperback)

Morton Keller

ISBN 10: 019532515X / ISBN 13: 9780195325157

Editore: Oxford University Press Inc, New York, 2007

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Paperback. Making Harvard Modern is a candid, richly detailed portrait of America's most prominent university from 1933 to the present: seven decades of dramatic change. Early twentieth century Harvard was the country's oldest and richest university, but not necessarily its outstanding one. By the century's end it was widely regarded as the nation's, and the world's, leading institution of higher education. With verve, humor, and insight, Morton and Phyllis Kellertell the story of that rise: a tale of compelling personalities, notable achievement and no less notable academic pratfalls. Their book is based on rich and revealing archival materials, interviews, and personalexperience.Young, humbly born James Bryant Conant succeeded Boston Brahmin A. Lawrence Lowell as Harvard's president in 1933, and set out to change a Brahmin-dominated university into a meritocratic one. He hoped to recruit the nation's finest scholars and an outstanding national student body. But the lack of new money during the Depression and the distractions of World War Two kept Conant, and Harvard, from achieving this goal.In the 1950s and 1960s, during thepresidency of Conant's successor Nathan Marsh Pusey, Harvard raised the money, recruited the faculty, and attracted the students that made it a great meritocratic institution: America's university. Theauthors provide the fullest account yet of this transformation, and of the wrenching campus crisis of the late 'sixties.During the last thirty years of the twentieth century, a new academic culture arose: meritocratic Harvard morphed into worldly Harvard. During the presidencies of Derek Bok and Neil Rudenstine the university opened its doors to growing numbers of foreign students, women, African- and Asian-Americans, and Hispanics. Its administration, faculty, and students becamemore deeply engaged in social issues; its scientists and professional schools were more ready to enter into shared commercial ventures. But worldliness brought its own conflicts: over affirmativeaction and political correctness, over commercialization, over the ever higher costs of higher education.This fascinating account, the first comprehensive history of a modern American university, is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the present state and future course of higher education. A candid portrait of America's greatest university and it's dazzling achievements and academic pratfalls through seven decades of dramatic change. This item is printed on demand. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability.

Codice articolo 9780195325157

Dati bibliografici

• Titolo: Making Harvard Modern (Paperback)
• Editore: Oxford University Press Inc, New York
• Data di pubblicazione: 2007
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 019532515X
• ISBN 13: 9780195325157
• Rilegatura: Paperback
• Condizione: new

Descrizione articolo

Riassunto

Early twentieth-century Harvard was the country's oldest and richest university, but not necessarily its outstanding one. By the century's end, it was widely regarded as the nation's, and the world's, leading institution of higher education. With verve, humor, and insight, Morton and Phyllis Keller tell the story of that rise: a tale of compelling personalities, notable achievement, and no less notable academic pratfalls. Their book is based on rich and revealing archival materials, interviews, and personal experience. The Kellers begin in 1933, when James Bryant Conant became Harvard's president and set out to change a Brahmin-dominated university into a meritocratic one, and they shed light on the presidencies of Nathan Marsh Pusey, Derek Bok, and Neil Rudenstine. The Kellers cover such events as the campus turbulence of the 1960s, show how the university gradually opened its doors to growing numbers of foreign students, women, African- and Asian-Americans, and Hispanics, and examine the debates over affirmative action, political correctness, and the ever higher costs of higher education. For the updated paperback edition, the authors feature a new chapter on the controversial presidency of Lawrence Summers, who put Harvard into the national spotlight during his reign, and the abolition of early admissions, which began to change university policies nationwide. The Kellers will draw on archival materials, newspaper articles, and an interview with Summers. The book will appear in time for Class Day in June. Making Harvard Modern is a candid, richly detailed portrait of America's most prominent university from 1933 to the present: seven decades of dramatic change. This fascinating account, the first comprehensive history of a modern American university, is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the present state and future course of higher education.

Informazioni sull'autore

Morton Keller is Spector Professor of History at Brandeis, and has written extensively on American political and economic institutions.

Phyllis Keller was the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs of Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences from the 1970s to the 1990s, and is the author of Getting at the Core, an inside look at the creation of Harvard's pioneering core curriculum.