Academia's Golden Age: Universities in Massachusetts, 1945-1970 [Hardcover]

Richard M. Freeland (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 23, 1992 | ISBN-10: 0195054644 | ISBN-13: 978-0195054644

This book examines the evolution of American universities during the years following World War II. Emphasizing the importance of change at the campus level, the book combines a general consideration of national trends with a close study of eight diverse universities in Massachusetts. The eight are Harvard, M.I.T., Tufts, Brandeis, Boston University, Boston College, Northeastern and the University of Massachusetts. Broad analytic chapters examine major developments like expansion, the rise of graduate education and research, the professionalization of the faculty, and the decline of general education. These chapters also review criticisms of academia that arose in the late 1960s and the fate of various reform proposals during the 1970s. Additional chapters focus on the eight campuses to illustrate the forces that drove different kinds of institutions--research universities, college-centered universities, urban private universities and public universities--in responding to the circumstances of the postwar years.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A magnificent work of scholarship....No book tells more about the dirty little secrets of universities as they jockey to enhance their prestige and resources. No book tells more about the universities and colleges of a single state. Academia's Golden Age is one of the very best books ever written about the history of American higher education."--Society

"An elegantly written piece of social history that can take its place with pride next to the work of Arthur Schlesinger, Sr., Oscar Handlin, and Samuel Eliot Morison."--Boston Phoenix

"With higher education under fire from so many quarters, a comprehensive history of the development of eight Massachusetts colleges and universities could not be more timely.... From presidential searches to battles over campus expansions, the book provides an exhaustive behind-the-scenes look at some of the nation's leading institutions....Essential reading."--Boston Globe

"Provid[es] critical insights into an unexplored era in American higher education....This readable, scholarly text compares favorably with L.G. Heller's excellent The Death of the American University."--Choice

"With scholarly authority and clarity of style, Richard Freeland has captured brilliantly those brief years during which America put its colleges and universities on a pedestal. He does so with a focus on metropolitan Boston, long considered the academic Athens of America, and he examines that claim in contemporary times. Skillfully treating the overall pattern of development in higher education and that of eight specific institutions, Freeland moves over a wide range from Harvard and M.I.T. to the University of Massachusetts. He examines the triumphs and trials of each. As a onetime faculty member and administrator in all three, I can testify to the quality of his historical analysis and to the gracefulness of his writing. For anyone who wants to understand higher education in the United States today, this book has to be read and pondered."--Robert Wood, Wesleyan University

About the Author

Richard M. Freeland is at University of Massachusetts, Boston.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 544 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (April 23, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195054644
• ISBN-13: 978-0195054644
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.4 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,147,398 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars interesting read, October 21, 2011

By 

UMASS Asst Prof - See all my reviews

This review is from: Academia's Golden Age: Universities in Massachusetts, 1945-1970 (Hardcover)

An interesting reveal of the inner workings of our great states institutes. I'm don't know if I'd recommend it for all though.

2 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Learnt Somehting, March 31, 2000

By 

Runga Whistar Rubenshlacken (Bombay, India) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Academia's Golden Age: Universities in Massachusetts, 1945-1970 (Hardcover)

there are good some good points that come from this book, like you cant be K-Rad without being G-Rad first, which i found interesting. Also, there are times when the book outlines the fact that sandstone is not made entirely of sand, it is a composite of a number of minerals, but who cares.