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  • A Larger Sense of Purpose: Higher Education and Society
  • Jason E. Lane (bio)
Harold T. Shapiro. A Larger Sense of Purpose: Higher Education and Society. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005. 183 pp. Cloth: $24.95. ISBN: 0-691-12363-2.

What is the nature of the relationship between the modern American research university and the society in which it operates? This question guides Harold Shapiro's book, A Larger Sense of Purpose. The book's epigraph, "Non noblis soblum" ("not for ourselves alone"), provides the reader with both a sense of foreboding about the increasing neo-liberal, economic influences of capitalism and an awareness of the continuing importance of universities to the success of a modern liberal democracy. The latter concept is based on the university's often competing responsibilities of being society's servant and critic.

Shapiro, an economist, presents four essays derived from the inaugural Clark Kerr Lectures in 2003. Based upon his twenty-five years of experience in higher education, including presidencies at the University of Michigan and Princeton University, Shapiro directs his observations about higher education to educational leaders and policy makers. Three notable themes—two critical and one commendable—arise from this compilation. First, the overall organization of the volume detracts from the individual themes of the essays due to a lack of cohesion and a clear conclusion.

Second, scholars familiar with the enterprise will find that the essays, which provide a wide-reaching review of the development and societal expectations of the American research university, do not significantly expand the existing canon of knowledge.

Third, following Kerr's lead, Shapiro ably addresses the challenges that contemporary research universities face in developing citizens for a liberal democracy, principle-guided professionals, and appreciation for the differences inherent in a pluralistic world.

Taken independently, each essay provides the reader with an introspective exploration of many of the issues that have confronted higher education during the past decade. The first essay, "The University and Society," is partly an explanation of the development of the university's societal responsibilities and partly a defense of its "special freedoms and privileges . . . [which] must be seen as mechanisms to enable universities to meet their responsibilities more effectively and more equitably" (p. 13).

In the second essay, Shapiro recounts the history of research universities. The essay, which is sometimes difficult to follow chronologically, provides the reader with a review of the changing economic, social, cultural, and academic contexts of the last half of the 19th century that guided the maturation of the American model of higher education.

The third essay, "Liberal Education, Liberal Democracy, and the Soul of the University," is a wide-reaching exploration of the university's philosophical and practical purposes. In the final essay, Shapiro draws upon his five years of experience as chair of the National Bioethics Advisory Commission to provide insight into this murky area of ethics, leading the reader to an understanding of the importance of balancing a society's moral values with its desire for scientific advancement and the difficulty for both scientists and policymakers in doing so.

As a collection, the essays lose some of their power because they lack a clear theme binding them together. Instead of being able to fully concentrate on the many ideas put forth, the reader is often distracted by the struggle to understand the interrelatedness of Shapiro's thoughts. The lack of cohesion among essays is underscored [End Page 80] by occasionally contradictory statements. For example, toward the beginning of the book, the author seeks to justify the need for change by warning that "a great deal is at stake, namely, the continued social relevance of institutions of higher education" (p. 11). However, the third essay proclaims, "There are few institutions with such continuing potential as universities to deliver new social dividends to society; therefore there is little reason to put them on the endangered species list" and they are "indispensable assets for the future now unfolding" (p. 119). The statements seem appropriate within the context of the individual essays; but in juxtaposition, they create confusion about Shapiro's true beliefs about the current state of the educational enterprise.

Although collectively the essays lack cohesion, education...

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