Educational heterogamy during the early phase of the educational expansion: Results from the university town of Tartu, Estonia in the late 19th century

Boundaries Lost: Thorstein Veblen, The Higher Learning in America, and the Conspicuous Spouse

Prospects ◽

10.1017/s0361233300000946 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 26 ◽

pp. 251-293 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Clare Eby

Keyword(s):

19Th Century ◽

Research Universities ◽

Higher Learning ◽

Current Interest ◽

Commercial Culture ◽

Late 19Th Century ◽

Administrative Structure ◽

Thorstein Veblen ◽

Central Concern ◽

The University

The Central concern of Thorstein Veblen's The Higher Learning in America (1918), a book that anyone concerned with the bureaucratization of the university or recent assaults on tenure would do well to scrutinize, is the scandalous porousness of boundaries between academia and business. According to Veblen, research universities contaminated themselves at the time of their formation in the late 19th century, not simply by accepting funding from capitalists, but also by mimicking the administrative structure and adopting the values of commercial culture. Although he believes the interests of education and business are “wholly divergent,” Veblen finds that “Plato's classic scheme of folly, which would have the philosophers take over the management of affairs, has been turned on its head; the men of affairs have taken over the direction of the pursuit of knowledge.” While some of the local concerns of Higher Learning differ from problems facing the university today, current interest in what Andrew Ross calls the “corporatization of the modern university” makes the book's broad claims strikingly relevant.

Download Full-text

Why is the Museum on the Web?

The Paleontological Society Papers ◽

10.1017/s1089332600003156 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 2 ◽

pp. 59-63

Author(s):

Judith Scotchmoor ◽

Claus Hedegaard

Keyword(s):

Public Sector ◽

19Th Century ◽

University Of California ◽

Late 19Th Century ◽

The Public ◽

Use Of Technology ◽

History Of ◽

The Common ◽

The University ◽

The Web

The Classic usage of the term museum implies a collection of objects, not a display, though this has been the common usage since the late 19th century. The University of California Museum of Paleontology (UCMP) is predominantly a museum in the classic sense. In this case the collection of objects is a research and study collection of fossil and Recent organisms. Visitors will find a few display cases, a very impressive Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton accompanied by a Pteranodon ingens flying overhead, a couple of dinosaur skulls, and plans for expansion. However, the overwhelming part of the collections is not usually accessible to the public. Nonetheless it is the mission of UCMP “…to facilitate the understanding of the history of life through service to research to education, and to the public.” It is the use of technology that has allowed us to more effectively reach the public sector.

Download Full-text