The Marketplace of Ideas: Reform and Reaction in the American University Audiobook

" I was urged to read this before taking another step. Somehow I am still excited to move forward. "

" I guess my expectations were a little too high after having read "The Metaphysical Club." Menand's writing is still brilliant, but the content presented here just wasn't nearly as fascinating as the personalities developed in his earlier work. As always, though, Menand presents insightful and nuanced opinions about complex and divisive subjects. For those interested in the liberal arts in higher education, it's well worth a read. "

" Pretty good history of the way things are in academia. Not a lot of insight into what needs to change. Kind of an inside-the-lines sort of thinker. "

" The most interesting parts of this book were the sections on the professions and "interdisciplinarity" (which I run into a lot in my clients' work - it has replaced "post-structualist" as the buzzword du jour in academe) and Part 4 about why professors seem to think the same way. In my work as an editor of dissertations and scholarly articles (with the occasional PhD application essay thrown in there), I hear a lot of horror stories about doctoral candidates forced to stay in their programs for years beyond when they should be finished or just let go from the program. Menand's point about the self-interestedness of departments in keeping ABD's and doctoral candidates going was very well taken, though I disagree that PhDs should be easier to get, having seen the rigor-less pablum that sometimes passes for dissertation research. I have read probably over 100 dissertations in all types of subject matter in the eight years I've been editing professionally, and I would say a good percentage of them (maybe 15-20%) are just trash, but they get passed because the candidate is doing research that his or her advisor is interested in or wants to appropriate for his or her own purposes or that somehow justifies the committee's political or social beliefs. Few solutions are offered, but I think anyone going into a graduate program, whether in the humanities or any of the social or "hard" sciences, would do well to read this little book and think about what he or she hopes to accomplish. "

" Nothing earth-shattering here, but useful for younger academics in terms of the history of interdisciplinarity and other current buzzwords and problems in higher ed today. Some really depressing statistics, too. Not really wise to read if you're attempting to finish a doctoral program. "

" Confirming what I already knew... "

" I especially enjoyed "Problem of General Education" and why faculty are resistant to change. Also, why in the world does a PhD in Humanities take 11 years???? "

" Great read. Interesting subject. It is part of a collection of books called Issues of our times. Take your time with at 150 pages seemed 300 to get the point. "

" Much of Menand's assessment of the issues in the US university rings true, and yet his proposals for reform strike me as awfully narrow. The book provides interesting food for thought, especially in contextualizing the current situation, but few real avenues for change. "

" This book finally made clear to me the questions I've had about what the study of English is, where postmodernism, deconstructionism, and many of the arts' other anxieties come from. "

" I enjoyed reading it, but Menand seems to hold back relative to his usual forceful writing. Pretty much worthless to people outside the academy, I'd guess. "

" Much of Menand's assessment of the issues in the US university rings true, and yet his proposals for reform strike me as awfully narrow. The book provides interesting food for thought, especially in contextualizing the current situation, but few real avenues for change. "

" I enjoyed reading it, but Menand seems to hold back relative to his usual forceful writing. Pretty much worthless to people outside the academy, I'd guess. "

" Great read. Interesting subject. It is part of a collection of books called Issues of our times. Take your time with at 150 pages seemed 300 to get the point. "

" This book finally made clear to me the questions I've had about what the study of English is, where postmodernism, deconstructionism, and many of the arts' other anxieties come from. "

" I especially enjoyed "Problem of General Education" and why faculty are resistant to change. Also, why in the world does a PhD in Humanities take 11 years???? "