The Marketplace of Ideas

The publication of The Marketplace of Ideas has precipitated a lively debate about the future of the American university system: what makes it so hard for colleges to decide which subjects are required? Why are so many academics against the concept of interdisciplinary studies? From his position at the heart of academe, Harvard professor Louis Menand thinks he's found the answer. Despite the vast social changes and technological advancements that have revolutionized the society at large, general principles of scholarly organization, curriculum, and philosophy have remained remarkably static. Sparking a long-overdue debate about the future of American education, The Marketplace of Ideas argues that twenty-first-century professors and students are essentially trying to function in a nineteenth-century system, and that the resulting conflict threatens to overshadow the basic pursuit of knowledge and truth.

Author: Louis Menand
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 12/01/2010
Pages: 176
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.50lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.40w x 0.60d
ISBN: 9780393339161

Review Citation(s):
New York Times Book Review 12/05/2010 pg. 62

About the Author
Menand, Louis: - Louis Menand, professor of English at Harvard University, is the author of The Metaphysical Club, which won the 2002 Pulitzer Prize in History. A longtime staff writer for The New Yorker, he lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.