Rethinking the End(s) of Education: An Aesthetics for Renewal in American Higher Education

Talk about renewal in education is at least as old as educational institutions themselves, and contemporary debates often seem like variations on past debates (Robinson, 1923; Vesey, 1973; Donaldson and Freeman, 2005; Klein, 2005; Bok, 2006). Still, we seem again to be witnessing an acute crisis in American higher education, with a widening gulf between the humanities and ‘practical’ disciplines such as the hard sciences and business. One symptom is the New York State Commission on Higher Education’s recent report, giving short shrift to the arts and humanities, while gesturing vaguely to `the world of ideas’ (NY State Commission, 12, 55). But, especially in contemporary America, there are many other signs of anxiety about higher education’s purpose and success. On the one hand, there is an urge to assert its relevance or utility. On the other, there is a hunger for meaning and purpose, for an intellectually, spiritually, and aesthetically fulfilling reinvention of education. This essay briefly traces some important antecedents and identifies salient contours of the current crisis and proposes a route to the renewal of American higher education along three vectors: aesthetic, structural, and philosophical.