Hi Matt, I haven't yet read this post in its entirety, mostly because it's so thought-provoking that it's taking me some time to process. One of the thoughts it's provoked so far, though, is your argument's resonance with a piece by a long gone Columbia sociologist, Robert Lynd, on the Truman Commission's Report, Higher Education for American Democracy. Lynd's 1948 essay, "Who Calls the Tune?," appeared in the Journal of Higher Education (19.4). (I'm happy to send a pdf, if you can't access that journal.) Lynd's perspicacity astounds: as the Report (famously) called for higher ed's help in sustaining democracy, Lynd states plainly that our democracy--this is immediate post-WWII--was already, and perhaps fatally, hampered by capitalism. How could higher ed support democracy, then, in its post-war form? What higher ed needed to do was to question the capitalistic incursion and rethink what democracy was/could be otherwise.
I've engaged Lynd's critique in my research into higher ed's role in the implementation of Am foreign policy in the early Cold War. As a lit prof, I am curious about how this role shaped the place of the humanities in higher ed. And, being at MSU, I am particularly concerned with the land-grants' participation. C. Cilano
As a MSU English alum I love the origin of this comment almost as much as I’m intrigued by its implications. Thanks for your intersectional approach to examining higher education! Tracing funding for access to higher education to economic ends shows the stark contrast in value priorities between countries across the capitalist continuum.
Important info that helps us to understand venture capital's aims and damage already done to education. I think it's useful to see the cleavage between those supporting Trump's full privatization of education with tech and the new neoliberal project to privatize, hollow out in a "public" system. AFT's deal with OpenAI and Anthropic to help teachers use AI straddles both.
Awesome post. If I can post a link (or maybe a URL that can be copied and pasted) I'll share one of my posts from 2008. Titled "Ed2Go is NOT Higher Education," it is the single most controversial post I've ever written, based at least on the feedback received in the comments. Most of the commenters were adamant about how Ed2Go courses are great and fill a need in the world. Neither of those things were the point of my post - which was that when these courses are associated with an institution of Higher Ed, they appear to be from that institution, even when they are not. I finally had to turn off comments just to get a little peace and quiet. :)
Matt, I'm now about halfway through Ryann Liebenthal's Burdened: Student Debt and the Making of an American Crisis (2024), and I can say with confidence you'll find it interesting and relevant. So many higher ed grifters across so many decades! So many missed opportunities (including Truman's Zook Commission)! So many corrupt federal initiatives and suborned compromises!
Hi Matt, I haven't yet read this post in its entirety, mostly because it's so thought-provoking that it's taking me some time to process. One of the thoughts it's provoked so far, though, is your argument's resonance with a piece by a long gone Columbia sociologist, Robert Lynd, on the Truman Commission's Report, Higher Education for American Democracy. Lynd's 1948 essay, "Who Calls the Tune?," appeared in the Journal of Higher Education (19.4). (I'm happy to send a pdf, if you can't access that journal.) Lynd's perspicacity astounds: as the Report (famously) called for higher ed's help in sustaining democracy, Lynd states plainly that our democracy--this is immediate post-WWII--was already, and perhaps fatally, hampered by capitalism. How could higher ed support democracy, then, in its post-war form? What higher ed needed to do was to question the capitalistic incursion and rethink what democracy was/could be otherwise.
I've engaged Lynd's critique in my research into higher ed's role in the implementation of Am foreign policy in the early Cold War. As a lit prof, I am curious about how this role shaped the place of the humanities in higher ed. And, being at MSU, I am particularly concerned with the land-grants' participation. C. Cilano
I have access & just downloaded. Thanks for the recommendation! I’m in the early stages of working on something for which this is extremely relevant.
Exciting. I'd love to hear more, if you care to share ideas or drafts at any point. You can find me via MSU's English dept website.
As a MSU English alum I love the origin of this comment almost as much as I’m intrigued by its implications. Thanks for your intersectional approach to examining higher education! Tracing funding for access to higher education to economic ends shows the stark contrast in value priorities between countries across the capitalist continuum.
Important info that helps us to understand venture capital's aims and damage already done to education. I think it's useful to see the cleavage between those supporting Trump's full privatization of education with tech and the new neoliberal project to privatize, hollow out in a "public" system. AFT's deal with OpenAI and Anthropic to help teachers use AI straddles both.
Awesome post. If I can post a link (or maybe a URL that can be copied and pasted) I'll share one of my posts from 2008. Titled "Ed2Go is NOT Higher Education," it is the single most controversial post I've ever written, based at least on the feedback received in the comments. Most of the commenters were adamant about how Ed2Go courses are great and fill a need in the world. Neither of those things were the point of my post - which was that when these courses are associated with an institution of Higher Ed, they appear to be from that institution, even when they are not. I finally had to turn off comments just to get a little peace and quiet. :)
If interested: https://desire2blog.blogspot.com/2008/09/ed2go-is-not-higher-education.html
Matt, I'm now about halfway through Ryann Liebenthal's Burdened: Student Debt and the Making of an American Crisis (2024), and I can say with confidence you'll find it interesting and relevant. So many higher ed grifters across so many decades! So many missed opportunities (including Truman's Zook Commission)! So many corrupt federal initiatives and suborned compromises!
Thanks, Bruce! I’ll check it out.