Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter i
2. Contents v
3. Acknowledgments vii
4. Introduction: The Public, the Press, and the Professors 1
5. Humanities for the Future: Reflections on the Western Culture Debate at Stanford 13
6. The Extraordinary Convergence: Democracy, Technology, Theory, and the University Curriculum 33
7. Teach the Conflicts 57
8. Cult-Lit: Hirsch, Literacy, and the "National Culture" 75
9. The Master's Pieces: On Canon Formation and the African-American Tradition 95
10. Liberal Arts Education and the Struggle for Public Life: Dreaming about Democracy 119
11. Pedagogy in the Context of an Antihomophobic Project 145
12. Serious Watching 163
13. From Ivory Tower to Tower of Babel? 187
14. The Emergence of the Humanities 201
15. The Academy and the Public 213
16. Classics and Canons 223
17. Two Cheers for the Cultural Left 233
18. The Common Touch, or, One Size Fits All 241
19. Against Nostalgia: Reflections on Our Present Discontents in American Higher Education 267
20. Notes on Contributors 291
21. Index 295