Most statements today about higher education begin with the assumption that it should be relevant. That it should be relevant, however, does not settle the matter. The significance of relevance depends on the power of something else that is more fundamental. Relevance may be a true standard of judgment, but it does not stand by itself. Assuming higher education should be relevant, the question emerges, relevant to what? Why? How? At what costs? And, relevant in what sense? These are some of the central questions animating this study. The Relevance of Higher Education: Exploring a Contested Notion, edited by Timothy L. Simpson examines the relevance of higher education by bringing together the work of historians, political scientists, and educational philosophers. The contributors probe the meaning of relevance in its many guises, providing an historical and philosophical account of the roots of this concept and its impact on the institution of higher education. Furthermore, The Relevance of Higher Education provides a critical evaluation of the impact of relevance on our understanding of the political and economic relationship between higher education and society. This study suggests views of relevance that could guide the future of higher education. By providing penetrating analysis, this text thoroughly explores relevance and its underlying assumptions, potential implications and long-lasting effects on higher education and society. The Relevance of Higher Education provides the tools necessary to develop a rich framework for understanding relevance and its impact on higher education and society.
Introduction. Chapter 1. A Philosophy of Prudence and the Purpose of HIgher Education Today by Lee Trepanier Chapter 2. Relevance in Higher Education: A Modest Proposal by Jon M. Fennell Chapter 3. The Expanding Circuit of Life: Higher Education, Wit, and Relevance by Bryan R. Warnick Chapter 4. Virtue, Happiness, and Balance: What Jefferson Can Still Teach us about Higher Education by Michael Schwartz Chapter 5. Toward a Neo-Perennialist Philosophy of Liberal Education by Wayne Willis Chapter 6. Academic Freedom and the Role of the Humanities by James Scott Johnston Chapter 7. The University and the Polis in an Age of Relevance by Bradley C.S. Watson Chapter 8. Order and Educational Relevance: Crisis and Conservancy in Western Civilization by Michael Wayne Hail Chapter 9. American Democracy and Liberal Education in an Era of "Relevance" by Jason R. Jividen Chapter 10. The Social Relevance of Egoism and Perfectionism: Nietzsche's Education for the Public Good by Mark Jonas Chapter 11. Irrelevance is Not an Option: Higher Education and the American Socio-economic System by Stephen Clements Chapter 12. Institutional Diversity and the Future of American Higher Education: Reconsidering the Vision of David Riesman by Wilfred M. McClay About the Authors
