UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY

EPE 685:

THE RESEARCH UNIVERSITY IN THE UNITED STATES

A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

Fall Semester 2006: University of Kentucky

Instructor: John Thelin

Monday, 11:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Dickey Hall 127

© John R. Thelin 2006

Prospectus:

Today the American research university is a success story, respected and even envied world-wide. Prestige brings controversy, however -- including questions about the heritage and mission of this distinctive institution. This seminar provides critical analysis and context on the changing ways in which the American campus has aligned itself with the research effort.

Topics will include graduate education, the place of professional schools in the university, costs and benefits of large scale research, and varying patterns among academic disciplines. We will devote substantial attention to contemporary policy debates about the research university, with grounding in interesting historical sources. Your exploration of historical issues and episodes about how the research university has developed to raise informed philosophical questions about appropriate institutional missions in the 21st century.

Readings and Required Texts:

Please purchase the following required works:

·  Roger L. Geiger, To Advance Knowledge: The Growth of American Research Universities, 1900 to 1940 (Oxford University Press, 1986)

·  Hugh Davis Graham and Nancy Diamond, The Rise of American Research Universities: Elites and Challengers in the Postwar Era (Johns Hopkins, 1997)

·  Henry Rosovsky, The University: An Owner’s Manual (W.W. Norton, 1990)

·  Clark Kerr, The Uses of the University (Harvard University Press, 1963 et al)

Optional Books:

Some excellent, suggested readings are the following classic works:

·  Laurence Veysey, The Emergence of the American University (University of Chicago Press, 1964 first edition)

·  Edwin L. Slosson, Great American Universities (Macmillan, 1910 , Ayer 1977)

·  Maresi Nerad, The Academic Kitchen: A Social History of Gender Stratification at the University of California, Berkeley (SUNY Press, 1999)

·  Linda Eisenmann, Higher Education for Women in Postwar America, 1945 to 1965 (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006)

Supplementary Readings and Documents:

Selected readings and reports will be available either on reserve or as hand-outs. Some examples of the kinds of work I plan to place on reserve and/or hand out in class include the following items:

·  John R. Thelin, “Research Universities” in Encyclopedia of American Social History (1992) pp. 2537-2545.

·  Rebecca S. Lowen, “Transforming the University: Administrators, Physicists, and Industrial and Federal Patronage at Stanford, 1935 to 1949,” History of Education Quarterly (Fall 1991) vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 365-388.

·  Daniel J. Kevles, “Foundations, Universities, and Trends in Support for the Physical and Biological Sciences, 1900 to 1992,” Daedalus (1992) vol. 121, pp. 195-235.

·  Roger L. Geiger, “Science, Universities, and National Defense, 1945 to 1970,” OSIRIS (1992) vol. 7, pp. 26-48.

·  Ernest R. House, “Policy and Productivity,” Educational Researcher (June-July 1994) pp. 27-32.

·  The Center of the University of Florida, The Top American Research Universities (July 2000)

·  Julianne Basinger, “A New Way of Classifying Colleges Elates Some and Perturbs Others: Carnegie Groupings De-emphasize Research and Seek to Discourage Ranking of Institutions,” Chronicle of Higher Education (August 11, 2000) pp. A31-A42).

Course Format and Assignments:

Each class session will be a combination of discussion, lecture, and student presentations. You are expected to attend all class meetings and to participate actively in class discussions. Reading assignments for each week should be completed prior to class meeting. Your semester grade also will be based on your work on a major paper, a group project, and several essay assignments. Be certain to keep a back-up copy of all your papers. Assignments will include the following:

·  Historical analysis of the character and condition of research universities, circa 1910

·  Comparing and contrasting university rankings between today and a century ago

·  Tracking developments in a particular academic discipline over time

·  Critical examination of claims about university ratings and rankings

·  A research paper on a topic of your choice, with approval of the instructor

Office Hours:

My office is 136A Taylor Building at the University of Kentucky, Lexington campus. My E-mail address is as follows: "" Office telephone is (859) 257-4996. I will hold office hours from 10 to 11 a.m. prior to class meeting and after class. In addition to these regular hours I am available to meet with you by appointment.