An edition of The opening of the American mind (1996)

Opening of the American Mind

Canons, Culture and History

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Opening of the American Mind
Lawrence W. Levine, Lawrence W ...
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Last edited by ImportBot
August 4, 2020 | History
An edition of The opening of the American mind (1996)

Opening of the American Mind

Canons, Culture and History

  • 4.0 (1 rating) ·
  • 1 Want to read
  • 1 Have read

In recent years there has been a spate of right-wing books attacking the contemporary university. The idea that the university curriculum has been hijacked by radical professors is an article of faith among conservatives and has fueled more than one best-seller. Until now, there has been no forceful, accessible book responding in a comprehensive way for a wide audience.

In The Opening of the American Mind, MacArthur award-winning historian Lawrence W. Levine - whose work Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has called "required reading for everyone interested in American culture and its history" - takes back the debate with a powerful argument about universities, history, and American identity.

Levine shows, first of all, that conservative critics of the university are both systematically wrong and ignorant of history. The canon that they claim is immutable has always been a living thing - shifting with the politics and society of the times. As recently as the late nineteenth century, the very literature the conservatives are nostalgic for was viewed as peripheral; even the president of Yale warned against the perils of studying English or American literature.

The western civilization curriculum sixties liberals are accused of dismantling was out of favor before they ever became professorsand was itself the result of a government program after World War I to ensure that American values were taught in the university, not the result of politically neutral inquiry and consensus.

With rigorous analysis and wonderfully entertaining storytelling, Levine shows that the new multicultural shift in American culture and education is not the result of a plot by a cabal of politically correct radical professors, but a reflection of a dynamic of social change that is uniquely American - and that is to be celebrated. Levine argues that critics' attacks mask deeper fears of a multicultural society - fears that have ties to old anxieties about immigration and a loss of American identity.

Levine defends a positive picture of social change and a new vision of American identity that is inclusive, democratic, and forward-looking.

Publish Date
Publisher
Beacon Press
Language
English
Pages
240

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Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: Opening of the American Mind
Opening of the American Mind: Canons, Culture and History
2018, Beacon Press
in English
Cover of: The opening of the American mind
The opening of the American mind: canons, culture, and history
1996, Beacon Press
in English

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Book Details


Classifications

Library of Congress
E169.1 .L5372 2001

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL28536490M
ISBN 13
9780807031193

Source records

Better World Books record

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History

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August 4, 2020 Created by ImportBot Imported from Better World Books record