Higher Ed Resource of the Week: What’s the Point of College?

On August 13, Johns Hopkins University Press released What’s the Point of College?: Seeking Purpose in an Age of Reform by Johann N. Neem. Neem is professor of history at Western Washington University. In response to the multitude of ideas about how to reform and improve higher education, Neem encourages stepping back to consider the foundational question of why institutions of higher education exist in the first place. What is their purpose? How can they achieve that purpose? What virtues must they cultivate to achieve their purpose? Neem offers a guide to considering these deeper ethical questions in order to better inform higher education policy. The book consists of four parts on Context, Curriculum, Teaching, and Scholarship with a conclusion titled On the Future. Three essays are included in each of the four parts. The 232-page book is available on Amazon for $22.95 and in Kindle format for $21.80