Liberal Education and the Small University in Canada ed. by Christine Storm (review)

108 LETTERS IN CANADA 1996 minor pains attendant upon fitting this institution within the bounds of global-market culture. The I conversation and good books' that Emberly uses as shorthand for a liberating education are now, we all realize, minor-leaguepreoccupations that exist along the periphery of the grant-grabbing, project-oriented, socially engineered academic enterprise in which dignities are measured and bestowed. Even to invoke these ancient traditions of contemplation entails the dangers of sliding into nostalgia. I cannot imagine a Canadian academic failing to find Zero Torerance interesting, in the way that Senior Common Room discussions often are. It presents a compelling survey of the mess that we are in. Like every other conunentary that Ihave come across, itpresents us withno very convincing guide for getting out of that mess. (DENNIS DUFFY) Christine Storm, editor. Liberal Education and the Small University in Canada McGill-Queen's University Press. x, 234. $42.95 cloth, $19.95 paper 1his collection of essays, from authors associated with Mount Allison University, promises more than it delivers. Although several ofthe discrete chapters are interesting, the volume as a whole lacks coherence and ends up as less than the sum of its parts. Beginning with chapters that discuss the development of the concept of liberal education from classical times to the present, the book continues with a chapter on the history of the Arts and Science curriculum in North America before turning to Mount Allison as a case study. _ One of the main problems lies in the concept of the book. Is it about Mount Allison or about liberal education and the small university? How do the contributors use the Mount Allison example to illustrate or debate issues related to liberal as opposed to other forms of education? Apart from size, which is constantly referred to, what other differences are there between small universities like Mount Allison and other, different kinds of postsecondary institutions? The origins of the collection underline the unfocused nature of the volume. In the Preface, the editor explains that a proposal for 'research in higher education' was submitted byMountAllison in response to a request from SSHRCC for a research-development plan under the Aid to Small Universities Program. The all-inclusive nature of such a beginning is made explicit: 'Few of the contributors had previously conducted research or published.in the area of higher education. The project encouraged research of any type by researchers of any discipline so long as the topic was relevant to higher education.... Although most of the chapters centre on Mount Allison University, we did not set out either to define the specific goals of liberal education at this institution or to evaluate the extent to HUMANITIES 109 ...... "'''714-'0\ Mol£> that a CO{len:!nce. With such a be a miracle if the or,aCtlce at small institutions mesh with the mission statements and ceived of those institutions? Is the e01l1CamOln in itself those attleIl(lmg enviable record of Lan!Q'uI1Q'e. Culture and Values in Canada at the Dawn 21st ....."""'x ..c,", culture et valeurs au Canada al'aube du XXle under the of Andre Patricia International Council for Canadian Studies and Carleton Univprsiiv Ultlemlatl.onal Council for Canadian Studies held an international at the theme of ..........J.; ....lUJ.;''-; ...