ERIC Number: ED259615
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1985-Mar
Pages: 14
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
The History of Higher Education: An Agenda for the Useful Past as a Lively Art. ASHE 1985 Annual Meeting Paper.
Thelin, John R.
An agenda to make historical analysis an integral part of public policy analysis in higher education is outlined. It is argued that the history of higher education should have a prominant place within higher education as a field of research, planning, development, and administration. Rather than claiming that a knowledge of the history of higher education provides lessons to prevent bad decisions, it is suggested that serious study of the history of higher education should provide contemporary leaders with a grasp of the complexities, not the simplicities, of the past. To achieve this aim, graduate students and future leaders need to be exposed to studies that disprove convenient stereotypes. In addition to knowing the important episodes of the history of higher education, it is proposed that contemporary administrators and policy planners use the methods, sources, and logic of the historian in considering higher education issues. For example, historical research can be essential for reconstructing the origins and rationale for low tuition and no tuition policies at state institutions. Historical research on administration and campus structure can also be useful in constructing organizational theory. (SW)
Publication Type: Opinion Papers; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A