Higher Education and the American Dream
Success and its Discontent
Marvin Lazerson is Professor of Higher
Education in the Department of Public Policy, Central
European University and Professor Emeritus at the University
of Pennsylvania. A member of the National Academy of
Education and a distinguished educational scholar and
teacher, he has taught at Harvard University, Stanford
University, and the University of British Columbia.
At Penn, he served as Dean of the Graduate School of
Education and as the University’s Interim Provost.
"Marvin Lazerson’s new book is exactly what
is needed: a readable, cogent explanation of how the
U.S. can have the best system of higher education in
the world, but also a system that seems to be coming
apart at the seams.”
—Susan Fuhrman, President Teachers College, Columbia
University, President of the National Academy of Education
"In prose remarkable for its clarity and analysis
remarkable for its fair-mindedness, this volume delivers
a penetrating, nuanced account of American universities
in the twenty-first century. Blessedly without rant
or cant, the book tackles topics that range from the
rise of the managerial class to the failed attempts
to reform practice in the classroom. It’s a smart
provocation—a must-read for anyone who cares about
where our universities are heading.”
—David L. Kirp, Professor at the Goldman School
of Public Policy at the University of California at
Berkeley and author of Shakespeare, Einstein, and
the Bottom Line: The Marketing of Higher Education
"Professor Lazerson gives an insightful account of
American higher education based on years of study and
first-hand experience. He discusses both the problems
and the accomplishment of our universities with
equal care and thus, succeeds in providing a useful
and illuminating analysis.”
—Derek Bok, Harvard University, President-emeritus
"Marvin Lazerson’s magnificent book is not
only comprehensive, but it is written from an all-embracing
point of view: seeing higher education in America as
an expression of the American Dream. This book should
be on the reading list of all who want to understand
America’s actions, role and image
in the world today, with and equal emphasis on their successes and the
discontents they create.”
—Yehuda Elkana, Rector and President-emeritus,
Central European University
Contents
Acknowledgments, Introduction: Houses,
automobiles, and higher education, Part
I The Gospel of Getting Ahead Chapter 1 Building
the dream (and worrying about it), Chapter 2
Higher education as vocational education, Part
II Governance and Managerial Dilemmas Chapter 3
Who governs higher education?, Chapter 4 Managerial
imperatives, Part III The Teaching and Learning
Conundrum Chapter 5 Academic disciplines,
research imperatives, and undergraduate learning, Chapter
6 A revolution in teaching and learning, Part
IV Making Things Better Chapter 7 Why
is higher education so hard to reform?, References,
Name Index, Subject Index
"How, asks Marvin Lazerson, can a higher education
system that depended so heavily on the dreams of so
many millions of Americans have lost its way so completely?
His readable and quietly authoritative response to this
value-laden question has relevance far beyond the US."
- Times Higher Education
"The unique perspective of this long-term administrator
and education historian made Lazerson's memoir particularly
compelling. Lazerson acknowledges many of the challenges
facing American higher education, especially in the
current economic downturn. Perhaps with hard work, including
strong systems of truly shared governance, more and
more Americans will be able to partake in the American
dream Lazerson professes." - Academe
2010
232 pages
ISBN 978-963-9776-79-1 cloth $40.00 / €34.95 /
£30.00
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