The pleasures of academe : a celebration & defense of higher education Cover Image

Book

The pleasures of academe : a celebration & defense of higher education / James Axtell.

Summary:

In this book, the distinguished historian James Axtell offers a compelling defense of higher education.

Drawing on national statistics, broad-ranging scholarship, and delightful anecdotes, Axtell reminds us of the dedication of professors and the increasing demands placed on them. He describes the professional work cycle, the evolution of scholarship in the past three decades, the importance of "habitual scholarship," and the best ways to judge a university. He discusses, with imagination and wit, the many pleasures of academic life, including intercollegiate sports, the "benign pathology" of loving and collecting books, teaching and service outside the classroom, life in college towns, and working vacations.

Axtell persuasively confronts the major critics of higher education, arguing that they have perpetuated misunderstandings of tenure, research, teaching, curricular change, and professional politics.

Record details

ISBN: 0803210493
ISBN: 9780803210493
Physical Description: xix, 292 pages ; 24 cm
Publisher: Lincoln : University of Nebraska Press, ©1998.

Content descriptions

Bibliography, etc. Note:	Includes bibliographical references (pages 251-283) and index.
Formatted Contents Note:	(Mis)Understanding academic work -- Scholarship reconsidered -- twenty-five reasons to publish -- Encountering the other -- What makes a university great? -- Confessions of a bibliolater -- The making of a scholar-athlete -- Between disciplines -- Extracurriculum -- College towns -- Academic vacations.