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The Resource The university in ruins, Bill Readings

The university in ruins, Bill Readings

Creator
Summary
  • It is no longer clear what role the University plays in society. The structure of the contemporary University is changing rapidly, and we have yet to understand what precisely these changes will mean. Is a new age dawning for the University, the renaissance of higher education under way? Or is the University in the twilight of its social function, the demise of higher education fast approaching?
  • We can answer such questions only if we look carefully at the different roles the University has played historically and then imagine how it might be possible to live, and to think, amid the ruins of the University. Tracing the roots of the modern American University in German philosophy and in the work of British thinkers such as Newman and Arnold, Bill Readings argues that the integrity of the modern University has been linked to the nation-state, which it has served by promoting and protecting the idea of a national culture. But now the nation-state is in decline, and national culture no longer needs to be either promoted or protected. Increasingly, universities are turning into transnational corporations, and the idea of culture is being replaced by the discourse of "excellence." On the surface, this does not seem particularly pernicious
  • The author cautions, however, that we should not embrace this techno-bureaucratic approach too quickly. The new University of Excellence is a corporation driven by market forces, and, as such, is more interested in profit margins than in thought. Readings urges us to imagine how to think, without concession to corporate excellence or recourse to romantic nostalgia within an institution in ruins. The result is a passionate appeal for a new community of thinkers
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
x, 238 pages
Contents
  • Foreword / Diane Elam
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. The Idea of Excellence
  • 3. The Decline of the Nation-State
  • 4. The University within the Limits of Reason
  • 5. The University and the Idea of Culture
  • 6. Literary Culture
  • 7. Culture Wars and Cultural Studies
  • 8. The Posthistorical University
  • 9. The Time of Study: 1968
  • 10. The Scene of Teaching
  • 11. Dwelling in the Ruins
  • 12. The Community of Dissensus
Isbn
9780674929531
Instance
Label
The university in ruins
Title
The university in ruins
Statement of responsibility
Bill Readings
Creator
Subject
Language
eng
Summary
  • It is no longer clear what role the University plays in society. The structure of the contemporary University is changing rapidly, and we have yet to understand what precisely these changes will mean. Is a new age dawning for the University, the renaissance of higher education under way? Or is the University in the twilight of its social function, the demise of higher education fast approaching?
  • We can answer such questions only if we look carefully at the different roles the University has played historically and then imagine how it might be possible to live, and to think, amid the ruins of the University. Tracing the roots of the modern American University in German philosophy and in the work of British thinkers such as Newman and Arnold, Bill Readings argues that the integrity of the modern University has been linked to the nation-state, which it has served by promoting and protecting the idea of a national culture. But now the nation-state is in decline, and national culture no longer needs to be either promoted or protected. Increasingly, universities are turning into transnational corporations, and the idea of culture is being replaced by the discourse of "excellence." On the surface, this does not seem particularly pernicious
  • The author cautions, however, that we should not embrace this techno-bureaucratic approach too quickly. The new University of Excellence is a corporation driven by market forces, and, as such, is more interested in profit margins than in thought. Readings urges us to imagine how to think, without concession to corporate excellence or recourse to romantic nostalgia within an institution in ruins. The result is a passionate appeal for a new community of thinkers
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
1960-
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Readings, Bill
Index
index present
LC call number
LB2322.2
LC item number
.R42 1996
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Education, Higher
  • Education, Higher
  • Education, Higher
  • Higher education and state
  • Nationalism and education
  • Enseignement supérieur
  • Enseignement supérieur
  • Enseignement supérieur
  • Enseignement supérieur
  • Nationalisme et éducation
  • Education, Higher
  • Education, Higher
  • Higher education and state
  • Nationalism and education
  • Hoger onderwijs
  • Onderwijsbeleid
  • Enseignement supérieur
  • Enseignement supérieur
  • Enseignement supérieur
  • Nationalisme et éducation
  • Bildungspolitik
  • Hochschulreform
  • Hochschule
  • United States
  • USA
Label
The university in ruins, Bill Readings
Instantiates
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (p. [195]-227) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Foreword / Diane Elam -- 1. Introduction -- 2. The Idea of Excellence -- 3. The Decline of the Nation-State -- 4. The University within the Limits of Reason -- 5. The University and the Idea of Culture -- 6. Literary Culture -- 7. Culture Wars and Cultural Studies -- 8. The Posthistorical University -- 9. The Time of Study: 1968 -- 10. The Scene of Teaching -- 11. Dwelling in the Ruins -- 12. The Community of Dissensus
Dimensions
24 cm
Extent
x, 238 pages
Isbn
9780674929531
Lccn
95047290
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
System control number
  • (OCoLC)33405286
  • (OCoLC)ocm33405286
Label
The university in ruins, Bill Readings
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references (p. [195]-227) and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Foreword / Diane Elam -- 1. Introduction -- 2. The Idea of Excellence -- 3. The Decline of the Nation-State -- 4. The University within the Limits of Reason -- 5. The University and the Idea of Culture -- 6. Literary Culture -- 7. Culture Wars and Cultural Studies -- 8. The Posthistorical University -- 9. The Time of Study: 1968 -- 10. The Scene of Teaching -- 11. Dwelling in the Ruins -- 12. The Community of Dissensus
Dimensions
24 cm
Extent
x, 238 pages
Isbn
9780674929531
Lccn
95047290
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
System control number
  • (OCoLC)33405286
  • (OCoLC)ocm33405286

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