Another "Must Read"

In honor of its release, the Chronicle of Higher Education today profiled Kevin Roose's book The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner’s Semester at America’s Holiest University.

Having not yet read the book, I can only comment on what is in the Chronicle article; still, in the small sampling offered here, I admire Roose's treatment of Liberty (and its constituents) as a cultural study--this is precisely what makes me so excited about our system of higher education in the U.S.: lacking a federal curriculum and constitutional mandate for higher ed, but held accountable by the regional accreditation bodies, we have a wonderfully diverse system of HE that allows for discrete institutional cultures to thrive. There's real value in that.

The U.S. system of higher education certainly faces numerous, significant challenges, but it is encouraging to focus, from time to time, on its unique strengths. Discrete institutional climates and cultures that draw and serve unique populations are, to my mind, one of the greatest strengths of our system.

The hope, of course, is that through the accreditation process, students in all these discrete educational enclaves have something of a shared mission-- a common, grounding principle--that values such cultural diversity and promotes temperance, critical reflection, and respect such that they acquire a foundation for negotiation and deliberation . . . the rhetorical core of our democracy. It is here that the relationship between higher ed and a thriving, stable democracy is revealed most clearly . . .

ah, but I have now digressed into the realm of my dissertation. More on that to come, folks.