Campus Life: Undergraduate Cultures from the End of the Eighteenth Century to the Present

by Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz

Book Overview

"Based on subtle, imaginative readings of autobiographies, memoirs, fiction and secondary sources, Campus Life] tells the story of the changing mentalities of American undergraduates over two centuries."--Michael Moffatt, New York Times Book Review

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226353737
• ISBN13: 9780226353739
• Release Date: April 1988
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 348 Pages
• Weight: 1.24 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.1" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

A nice historical text on the changes in student populations

This history text focuses more on the classifications in the student population as defined by Horowitz and the changes in those individual populations over the years. Horowitz often refers to "The College Men," "The Outsiders," and "The Rebels." Each of these groups has played a significant role in the development of higher education and Horowitz does a fantastic job of tracking minority involvement and ownership into these groups over the years. There are many interesting accounts of the trouble that students caused over the years (especially the college men in the early years of Harvard and Yale). The Outsiders were the students that were not allowed into the selective groups of greek-letter societies and the rebels and Horowitz follows the integration of some student cultures as they merge, shift, and change. This book also has many great pictures from the early years of higher education. This book is highly recommended for a historical look at the student populations and how they have changed over the years. I recommend reading the following texts in conjunction with this one if you are truly interested in getting a more comprehensive account of the history of higher education: "American College and University: A History" by Frederick Rudolph "A History of American Higher Education" by John Thelin "American Higher Education" by Christopher Lucas Another good book about the history of admissions and exclusion at Harvard, Yale, and Princeton is "TheChosen" by Jerome Karable. Finally, if you are interested in the history of co-operative living I highly recommend the following historical account about the University of Kansas: "Making Do and Getting Through" by Fred McElhenie (it is locally published for the University of Kansas by Oread Books).

Fun and entertaining!

This book does a wonderful job of describing student life in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries. It should be required reading for all my fellow professors who pine for the fabled "good old days" when students were in awe of their professors, put a priority on their studies, and were virtuous. This book describes the reality, not the myth. It is a wonderful discussion of student life, including the rebels and outsiders. Several times I laughed outloud at the similarities between today's college students and those of centuries past.The pictures in the book are wonderful. One in particular of the aftermath of a snowball fight at Princeton in the 19th century opened up some interested dialog among my colleagues regarding the nature of violence on college campuses. I highly recommend this book.