Talcott Parsons is often identified as the "master" of mid-twentieth-century social theory. In the 1960s and 1970s, however, his writings were hardly any longer discussed, but mostly neglected. "The American University" is Parsons's last monograph published during his lifetime. On the basis of extensive archival research, this…

This article discusses the history of American and Soviet transformations in German universities during the period of the Cold War, 1945-1990. Both American and Soviet policies were resisted by the university community, particularly by the conservative German professoriate, in both parts of the divided Germany. The article shows how and why both…