College: What it Was, Is, and Should Be by Andrew Delbanco (2012) provides a comprehensive chronological overview of higher education from its origins to the present day. Upon reading the title I assumed the subsequent pages would drag on about the failures of higher education and list a fool proof way of correcting said issues, I am happy to announce I was incorrect. In the book’s six short chapters Delbanco manages to take us back in time and review the origins of higher education in order to better understand where we are today. In the first three chapters Delbanco reviews the evolution of college, which originally stirred from religion, and became the way society groomed young men of age. In 1886 founding president of John’s Hopkins stated that college should always be a place for the development of a student’s character (p.42). As time progressed the pulpit fashion no longer
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Readers may notice the book does not provide an answer or conclusion, perhaps reiterating that there is no one way to solve all of the systematic problems in higher education. Although frustrating at first, I found this method effective in provoking thought from the very individuals who can orchestrate the greatest transformation, the reader. The beauty is that each reader will have a different takeaway, Delbanco leaves room for the readers wheels to turn. It is apparent that Delbanco is well versed on the history of higher education made evident by the substantial amount of factual information incorporated throughout the book. That being said, readers can expect to compile a running list of “future books to read”. In order to illustrate his story Delbanco seamlessly incorporates books, articles and religious scriptures. At times the excerpts can seem overbearing and cumbersome due to their high quantity, however for most of the reading I personally found them
Readers may notice the book does not provide an answer or conclusion, perhaps reiterating that there is no one way to solve all of the systematic problems in higher education. Although frustrating at first, I found this method effective in provoking thought from the very individuals who can orchestrate the greatest transformation, the reader. The beauty is that each reader will have a different takeaway, Delbanco leaves room for the readers wheels to turn. It is apparent that Delbanco is well versed on the history of higher education made evident by the substantial amount of factual information incorporated throughout the book. That being said, readers can expect to compile a running list of “future books to read”. In order to illustrate his story Delbanco seamlessly incorporates books, articles and religious scriptures. At times the excerpts can seem overbearing and cumbersome due to their high quantity, however for most of the reading I personally found them