Capital of Mind

The Idea of a Modern American University

Adam R. Nelson

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English

University of Chicago Press
01 April 2024

History of the Americas; Modern history to 20th century: c 1700 to c 1900; Education; Philosophy & theory of education

The second volume of an ambitious new economic history of American higher education.

Capital of Mind is the second volume in a breathtakingly ambitious new economic history of American higher education. Picking up his account where the first volume, Exchange of Ideas, ended, Adam R. Nelson looks at the early decades of the nineteenth century, explaining how the idea of the modern university arose from a set of institutional and ideological reforms designed to foster the mass production and mass consumption of knowledge, an “industrialization of ideas” that mirrored the industrialization of the American economy and catered to the demands of a new industrial middle class for practical and professional education. From Harvard in the north to the University of Virginia in the south, new experiments with the idea of a university elicited intense debate about the role of scholarship in national development and international competition, and whether higher education, in periods of fiscal austerity, should be supported by public funds. The history of capitalism and the history of the university, Nelson reveals, are intimately intertwined—which raises a host of important questions that remain salient today. How do we understand knowledge and education as commercial goods? Should they be public or private? Who should pay for them? And, fundamentally, what is the optimal system of higher education for a capitalist democracy?

By: Adam R. Nelson
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 33mm
Weight: 794g
ISBN: 9780226829203
ISBN 10: 0226829200
Pages: 480
Publication Date: 01 April 2024
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Preface Introduction Part I: The Idea of a “University,” 1812–18 Charlottesville 1. A Plan of a University in Virginia 2. The Literary Fund Cambridge (via Göttingen) 3. Our Young Geniuses in Boston 4. The State of Literature in Germany Consolidation 5. Every Science Deemed Useful 6. No One Will Buy What No One Has Offered to Sell Part II: The Economy of Knowledge, 1818–24 Crises 7. The Late Riot at Göttingen 8. The Inadequacy of the Funds for the University Controversies . . . and Curricula 9. A Professor of Political Economy 10. The Science of Wealth Competition! 11. If We Can Ever Have a University at Cambridge 12. Intellectual Economy Part III: The Industrialization of Ideas, 1824–30 Cosmopolitanism/Commercialism 13. To Improve Our Science, as We Have Done Our Manufactures, by Borrowed Skill 14. Filled by Foreigners Conflict 15. Modern Views of Liberal Education 16. Friedrich List Catalyst 17. Intellectual Power 18. An Honorable Competition with the Universities of Europe Conclusion Afterword Acknowledgments Notes Bibliographic Essay Index

Adam R. Nelson is Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor of Educational Policy Studies and History at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He is author of The Elusive Ideal: Equal Educational Opportunity and the Federal Role in Boston’s Public Schools, 1950–1985 (also published by the University of Chicago Press), among other books.

Reviews for Capital of Mind: The Idea of a Modern American University

"""Should American colleges and universities serve the public good? It all depends on what we mean by 'the public,'of course, and what we imagine would be 'good' for it. Adam Nelson has produced the first full history of how Americans established and funded higher education, and--especially--of how they deliberated its fundamental purposes. From now on, anyone who wants understand that debate--or to enter into it themselves--will have to consult this groundbreaking book."" -- Jonathan Zimmerman, University of Pennsylvania “This book and its companion, Exchange of Ideas, represent a monumental achievement. They will fundamentally alter how we understand virtually every feature of US higher education during more than a century of its history. Nelson’s work will cause a major splash and encourage readers to radically alter their views of the educational landscape before the Civil War. With these books, the history of American colleges and universities will never again look the same.” -- Andrew Jewett, Johns Hopkins University"