{"product_id":"the-university-and-the-people-scott-m-gelber-9780299284640","title":"The University and the People: Envisioning American Higher Education in an Era of Populist Protest","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe University and the People\u003c\/i\u003e chronicles the influence of Populism--a powerful agrarian movement--on public higher education in the late nineteenth century. Revisiting this pivotal era in the history of the American state university, Scott Gelber demonstrates that Populists expressed a surprising degree of enthusiasm for institutions of higher learning. More fundamentally, he argues that the mission of the state university, as we understand it today, evolved from a fractious but productive relationship between public demands and academic authority.\u003cbr\u003e Populists attacked a variety of elites--professionals, executives, scholars--and seemed to confirm academia's fear of anti-intellectual public oversight. The movement's vision of the state university highlighted deep tensions in American attitudes toward meritocracy and expertise. Yet Populists also promoted state-supported higher education, with the aims of educating the sons (and sometimes daughters) of ordinary citizens, blurring status distinctions, and promoting civic engagement. Accessibility, utilitarianism, and public service were the bywords of Populist journalists, legislators, trustees, and sympathetic professors. These \"academic populists\" encouraged state universities to reckon with egalitarian perspectives on admissions, financial aid, curricula, and research. And despite their critiques of college \"ivory towers,\" Populists supported the humanities and social sciences, tolerated a degree of ideological dissent, and lobbied for record-breaking appropriations for state institutions.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Scott M. Gelber\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0299284646\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780299284640\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e University of Wisconsin Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/28\/2011\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 264\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.80lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.90h x 6.00w x 0.70d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 04\/01\/2012","brand":"Scott M. Gelber","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48086467707135,"sku":"9780299284640","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_04a09cd0-21aa-4862-a69d-feafab88f09f.jpg?v=1769094836","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-university-and-the-people-scott-m-gelber-9780299284640","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}