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Article: The science wars and the future of the American academic profession.
- Article from:
- Daedalus
- Article date:
- September 22, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 American Academy of Arts and Sciences. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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It is all too easy to be perplexed about the state of health of academic institutions in the United States. On the one hand, observers proclaim this to be "the golden age of the American university,"(1) and it would be hard to disagree based on any sort of objective measure, such as the competition for admission to selective institutions or the net influx of foreign students. Subjectively, the positive public image of the American university also seems to be holding.(2) At the same time, a steady stream of jeremiads fills the shelves at bookstores and libraries, lamenting the catastrophic failure of American higher education to carry out its intended functions and ...