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Mutual Subversion: A Short History of the Liberal and the Professional in American Higher Education

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 February 2017

David F. Labaree
David F. Labaree*
Affiliation:
Stanford University School of Education
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Extract

I want to tell a story about American higher education. Like many historical accounts, this story has a contrapuntal quality. As we know, historians frequently find themselves trying to weave discordant themes into complex patterns in the hope of making harmony. The reason for this is that simple themes are hard to find in the account of any complex social institution, especially one like education, which is composed of a motley accumulation of historical residues and social functions. We often come across one point about education that makes sense and then find a counterpoint that also makes sense. If we cannot eliminate one in favor of the other, then we try to put them together in a way that does not violate the rules of harmony and historical logic. In the effort to do so we, therefore, find ourselves in the business of writing fugues.

Type
Articles
Information
History of Education Quarterly , Volume 46 , Issue 1 , Spring 2006 , pp. 1 - 15
Copyright
Copyright © 2006 by the History of Education Society 

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