English 891EW - S-History/Higher Ed in America

This course is a graduate-level introduction to the history of higher education in the United States, treating the educational past both as a field of inquiry in its own right and as a lens to think about institutions, disciplines, systems, practices, and problems today. The idea of the course is twofold: to encourage historical research on higher education among scholars in diverse disciplines and to prepare future academics for careers in higher education by helping them see the broader institutional and sociocultural contexts of their work. Topics of inquiry will include the history of the university; the rise of institutions more or less unique to the U.S., including liberal arts colleges, land-grant institutions, women's colleges, historically black colleges and universities, and community colleges; the rise of for-profit and online higher education; the evolution of the post-secondary curriculum; ties between colleges/universities and the state, market, and society; issues of access and affordability; articulation among secondary education, higher education, and the workplace; the rise of disciplines and professions; the history of graduate education, etc. There will be some focus on the rise of English as an academic discipline, including histories of literary study, creative writing, and composition and rhetoric. Histories of higher education outside the United States will be incorporated as desired. Other adjustments regarding topics and readings will be based on students' interests, backgrounds, and goals. The course will culminate in individual projects; both primary and secondary research are possible. Readings will include Pedersen's The First Universities, Rudolph's The American College and University: A History, Menand et al.'s The Rise of the Research University: A Sourcebook, as well as more focused historical scholarship on a range of topics.