Higher Education, Imperial Democracy, and the "Public Good" in the Progressive Era, 1891–1923

• In Event: (De)Stabilizing Ontologies: Continuity and Change

Abstract

This historical paper engages with the emergent field of critical university studies, focusing on connections between higher education and the emergent framings of "democracy" and the "public good" in the Progressive Era. Using archival data from key university administrators from 1891-1923, this paper explores the role of the university as a component of assemblages of state power. The intent is to interrogate connections between turn of the century understandings of internationalism connected to the university, and coeval logics of U.S. imperialism. This inquiry not only adds nuance and complexity to our understanding of the nature and purpose of the university in the Progressive Era, but also raises questions about the continuation of these structures and logics into the present day.

Author

• Juliet Kunkel, Berkeley University of California