Question: Can one study the History of Higher Education

[MissingVandyCandy]

In

[Louiselab]

I know someone who does that and she is in the Education department, not history, although I think she does "interdisciplinary" work in the history department too.

[Cornell07]

Off the top of my head, I know that there is someone at Harvard who studies this topic (I was a bit concerned with it for a while actually, doing an indep. thesis on the impact of dormitory architecture on education).

Edit:

A quick google search brought up this journal on the history of higher education; I've linked to the masthead: http://www.ed.psu.edu/hied/annual/editorialboard.html

[Pegona]

I don't know of any departments specifically dedicated to the History of Higher Education, but there certainly are such subspecialties in Schools of Education.

I wrote my Master's Thesis on a similar topic, though not focusing on the US. I can tell you that there are dozens and dozens of historians who study or have studied this field.

[MissingVandyCandy]

Thanks everyone, but can anyone name actual programs (either in History Departments or Schools of Education) that are strong? And would one be better off doing a straight up History PhD in terms of finding a job or an Education PhD... given the narrowness of this topic I still see it as valuable and viable given that as a Professor your research subjects be they historical documents or every day interactions on campus would be right in front of you... there for the taking.

[Pegona]

Well, it totally depends on what sort of issues in the History of Higher Education you want to explore.

Schools that are notably good for all sorts of History of Education topics are Harvard and Columbia.

[abc]

History of Higher Education is usually a subfield within History of Education, which is often (though not exclusively) found in ed schools.

At Harvard, Julie Reuben come to mind. At Stanford, David Labaree is working on history of higher ed. At Wisconsin, Adam Nelson does higher ed.

Depending on the school, you may be able to do a joint PhD in History and Education. At others, that may not be possible. Some ed schools will require doing a MA or doctoral minor in history and some history departments may allow you to do the reverse in the education.

What's better for jobs? Well, history departments are less likely to hire people from Ed Schools but that's not always the case. Ed schools are likely to hire either from ed schools or history programs. There are more jobs in ed schools but that often means teaching "foundation" courses rather than straight up history classes.

[MissingVandyCandy]

Excellent answer ABC. Obviously I want the best crack at jobs so I figured getting the broader background in History was more appropriate, but my background is in Political Science and so when I analogized the situation in my own head I had trouble seeing how someone with an interest in the History of American Higher Education--basically someone who would like to write biographies of colleges and universities and the notable academics who work in them-- would navigate a traditional history or education dept. I don't really have an interest in the role of higer education in expanding U.S. workforce productivity or access or the GI bill, just straight up academe for academe's sake. On the same token I don't think i would have interest in the education school types who singularly focus on studying what factors lead to increased student achievement or access to college. I could envision instead a doctoral dissertation that examined the history of selective liberal arts colleges in post War America and their influence on the undergraduate education provided by the traditional reserach university. I don't see how I fit into either category!

[crauson]

Excellent answer ABC. Obviously I want the best crack at jobs so I figured getting the broader background in History was more appropriate, but my background is in Political Science and so when I analogized the situation in my own head I had trouble seeing how someone with an interest in the History of American Higher Education--basically someone who would like to write biographies of colleges and universities and the notable academics who work in them-- would navigate a traditional history or education dept. I don't really have an interest in the role of higer education in expanding U.S. workforce productivity or access or the GI bill, just straight up academe for academe's sake. On the same token I don't think i would have interest in the education school types who singularly focus on studying what factors lead to increased student achievement or access to college. I could envision instead a doctoral dissertation that examined the history of selective liberal arts colleges in post War America and their influence on the undergraduate education provided by the traditional reserach university. I don't see how I fit into either category!

You don't fit either category perfectly and if you want to pursue your topic you'll probably have to suck it up* and make a concession towards either the discipline of history or the discipline of education. Otherwise adcoms from both history and education departments will look at you as a misfit and, no matter what your credentials, if you are misfit you aren't going to make the cut. I am interested in the history of education, but I come at it from an angle that clearly fits into the auspices of history departments. I look at a particular aspect of the history of education and then analyze what it says about the priorities of society at large as well as issues of class, gender, race, etc. If I were to look at a particular aspect of the history of education and then analyze the evolution of pedagogical techniques, accessibility, etc. then that would fit neatly within education departments.

Interdisciplinarity is great - once you have your PhD. Billing yourself as interdisciplinary when applying to programs is usually disastrous, and in the unlikely event that you get into an interdisciplinary graduate program chances are you are going to have a hell of a time finding a tenure track job. Getting your PhD in either history or education and then applying for a joint-position where the history and education departments at a university each pay half your salary is quite feasible and sounds like it might be ideal for you.

*I cannot, however, imagine undertaking graduate school pursuing a subject I wasn't 100% passionate about.

[Minnesotan]

***Mod note: I edited the title back into this thread. If you want to delete your post, that's fine, but we cannot have threads with one-letter titles confusing the other users of the forum. Thanks.

[baskin]

If you have a poly-sci bent, are mainly focused on history, but want to look at issues of education policy, Virginia would be a great place to be. The Miller Center of Public Affairs does all kinds of policy stuff (Gareth Davies was there finishing his book "See Gov't Grow" re: education policy from Johnson to Reagan), the 20th Century History is solid, and the Curry School of Education is one of the top in the country with an emphasis on PhDs in ed. policy - I'm sure there are plenty of opportunities for interdisciplinary work, especially through the Miller Center.