This is one of those books that does exactly what it sets out to do. If you want to understand the logistics and structure of the civil service examinThis is one of those books that does exactly what it sets out to do. If you want to understand the logistics and structure of the civil service examination sequence during the Qing Dynasty (and who doesn't?), this is a strong survey. It's very focused on the mechanics of how these tests were administered, why administrators made the choices they did, and what we can learn from literary representations of them.
One element I hadn't really considered before is how this demonstrates the effects of examination without education. While the tests were funded by the government, there was no public education. So while anyone could sign up for the exam, it was only really possibly to succeed if you had the cultural access to understand the norms and the financial backing to prepare. It balances a surface meritocracy while still reinforcing existing power structures.
It's very easy to point at that and say "Ah, how regressive." But how many examples of this do we have that we ignore? Do high-stakes examinations ever reward merit or do they only perform meritocracy? ...more
I think part of the issue is there's less City College than you'd expect from the title. The real focus is on addressing misperceptions around the ecoI think part of the issue is there's less City College than you'd expect from the title. The real focus is on addressing misperceptions around the economic advancement of Jewish immigrants in New York.
City College is used mostly as a framing device, as it became a predominantly-Jewish institution for a few decades. Gorelick endeavors to put that oft-cited factoid into its context, so the bulk of the text is on patterns of immigration, attitudes towards immigrant populations, and organizations operating around those populations.
It's worth noting that Gorelick addresses the topic from an explicitly Marxist framework. That's not a fault, per se, but it's worth understanding going in that she will be somewhat more prescriptive in her analysis than many institutional histories.
The book is stronger in its first half, weirdly before she starts talking about City College. It does a good job of setting the scene, but the actual picture of Jewish education in the second generation of Russian immigrants is somewhat piecemeal. It comes across as incomplete, probably due to its attempt to present a sufficiently broad picture at the outset that the City College experience remains somewhat ambiguous by the end. ...more
The real strength of a text like this is in developing a conceptual framework. The author spends the bulk of the book identifying how her framework woThe real strength of a text like this is in developing a conceptual framework. The author spends the bulk of the book identifying how her framework would apply in different historical eras.
Basically, it's about how student attitudes toward a few factors determine broad "classes" of students over time. For example, do students see themselves as being definitionally opposed to campus authority or deferential to it? Do they prioritize the curriculum or the extracurriculum? Do they see college as a time of transformation or a time to reaffirm what preceded it? When confronted with the political structures of the institution, do they respond by affirming norms, being indifferent to them, or opposing them? If they oppose them, do they do so for causes internal to the education experience or based on external political movements?
The way students respond to these kinds of questions sort students into three broad classes: insiders, outsiders, and rebels. Horowitz then goes to great lengths demonstrating how those classes are subdivided and evolve over time.
While the text is a few decades old, there will doubtless be flashes of recognition for any interested reader. This serves a great starting point for jumping into how students claim their identities on campus and how the replicate/revise the behavioral patterns of their predecessors. ...more
And when he says "eighties," he means the 1880's for the record.
This book is most useful for a 100-page section beginning on page 199. This details rAnd when he says "eighties," he means the 1880's for the record.
This book is most useful for a 100-page section beginning on page 199. This details recollections of religious, social, and athletic life at the 1880's New England college. These retold anecdotes are great evidence for understanding just how transformative the turn-of-the-century expansion really was to college life. I think just reading those chapters would be useful without reading the rest.
The rest really falls in two buckets. The beginning and the end of the book focus on drawing comparisons between the college of the 1880's and that of the 1920's. In pieces, this can be really insightful. But it is also beholden to its present and can seem pretty trivial in retrospect. Also the casual xenophobia (though not uniform, certainly) will throw off the modern reader.
There are pieces where the author's description of the problems of the 1920's college will sound almost indistinguishable from complaints made one hundred years on, which can be interesting. The biggest surprise was his conclusion that college in the 1880's was, on the whole, worse. So it's not all rose-tinted nostalgia.
The second hundred pages consist of remembrances of faculty from about a dozen colleges. Some are interesting, but many frankly blend together. ...more
The first half of this book is a really great introduction to the structure and ideology of the German University of the nineteenth century. That's kiThe first half of this book is a really great introduction to the structure and ideology of the German University of the nineteenth century. That's kind of what I was hoping this book would be, and it really delivered.
It was a little odd that the author skipped the entire period from 1880 to 1945. Feels like it might have yada yada'd over some relevant details. I know that era was not his focus, but I can't imagine the institutions were structurally unaffected by those decades of upheaval.
The bigger issue though is that the second half of the book is discussing reform while that reform is ongoing. It's effectively a history of German university structure in the 1970's, but the changes seemed to be so in flux that it is hard to see exactly what the university had become compared to what it was in the initial profile.
It's a bit messy, but I would totally recommend the first 53 pages. It's a great snapshot of the period, especially relevant for how influential it was on the formation of the modern American university. ...more
Great overview of the personalities and policies that made St. John's New Program what it was. Especially good at connecting the Barr/Buchanan adminisGreat overview of the personalities and policies that made St. John's New Program what it was. Especially good at connecting the Barr/Buchanan administration to the Weigle/Klein administration (which typically gets less attention) and demonstrating the philosophical shifts there, even as the institution remained true to the general vision of the 1937 reform....more
I find it very hard to fault this book for its level of detail. If you want to know anything about the civil service exams during Japan's imperial perI find it very hard to fault this book for its level of detail. If you want to know anything about the civil service exams during Japan's imperial period, you'll learn about it here. My only issue, perhaps, is in how those details are arranged.
Broadly, the book focuses on how the tests developed and how they were modified over the years by examiners and political bodies. It then goes into more detail on the composition of the tests themselves, the experience of taking them, and the outcomes of the system.
Spaulding structures the book topically instead of strictly chronologically. The intent here appears to be ensuring that the reader can engage with it in sections, getting a complete picture of one aspect of the system in each chapter. This makes the book very effective as a reference text.
The downside is that it can make it harder to read in sequence. The author focuses a ton of energy in describing each political maneuver that altered the imperial examination offerings, but all those chapters on history precede the chapters on the description of the tests themselves. So the reader has to work through lots of specifics on the sequences of adding and removing exams and exceptions and consolidations before getting a clear description of what those things mean. Again, this works retroactively, where you can revisit select sections, but it makes it hard to read straight through.
I think the high points here are where Spaulding can offer the human side of the system, brining in primary sources about how students engaged with the exams and how it impacted future civil servants.
This book is useful in presenting a contrast to the much more well known Chinese imperial examination system. Going into the book, my assumption was that there would be much more overlap than there was in fact. The Japanese system drew more inspiration from Prussia than it ever did from China.
While reading this one can bog down and be a tough hang at times, it does have some real high points if you're the kind of weirdo (like me) who would find a subject as niche as this one exciting at face value....more
This is okay as a broad institutional outline, but you'll run into some issues.
Since it's written as an institutional history, it isn't capable of prThis is okay as a broad institutional outline, but you'll run into some issues.
Since it's written as an institutional history, it isn't capable of providing critical distance. Much of the first half is more focused on biographical material on the college's first four presidents. My read is that it tends to err on the side of hagiography and can't reflect negatively on the school's history or its leaders' decisions. It also tends to take block quotes from secondary observers as being sufficient for describing persons or periods in their totality.
The author can also tend to get off topic. He spends too much time on tangentially-related topics and loses track of the text as being history. It's pretty anecdotal, treating one or two instances of a phenomenon as sufficiently descriptive of "college culture" or some other broad category. Because it's a work of evangelical history, it also imposes a narrative of divine action to justify and explain events as being inevitable without attempting to seek other explanations.
There are not a great abundance of texts as focused on Wheaton as this one is, so it's a good place to start for broad brushstrokes of institutional background. But the reader will need to filter through a lot of noise to get to some useful material here. ...more
Strong overview of a very broad topic. Does a good job of including institutions that are usually left out of the story. Plenty of jumping off points Strong overview of a very broad topic. Does a good job of including institutions that are usually left out of the story. Plenty of jumping off points that Thelin directs you to for further reading....more
This is a good summary of the available material about an uncommon institution. Essentially it asks what an Indian boarding school looks like when it'This is a good summary of the available material about an uncommon institution. Essentially it asks what an Indian boarding school looks like when it's actually developed internally by a tribal government. What's different about that unexpected governance? And what, surprisingly, is exactly the same? And if a boarding school environment that reinforces dominant social norms, how does that relate to Cherokee identity as defined by the students?
This is a corner of history that defies many of our assumptions about the period, and I appreciated getting to understand how an educational institution can reinforce and defy dominant narratives about a minoritized population. ...more
You'd think with as aggressively niche a title as it has, it would pick a lane, but this one is kind of all oI'm not sure this book knows what it is.
You'd think with as aggressively niche a title as it has, it would pick a lane, but this one is kind of all over the place. It starts with Sri Lankan pre-history, jumping around with broad brush strokes along with historic travelers' accounts. The text regularly switches into first-person accounts of a trip the authors evidently made there but will do so without warning or context.
It actually takes multiple chapters before there's space dedicated to the "woodland shrines" that grace the title, but the authors don't seem to give much of a deep look at the phenomenon or why they would write a book ostensibly about them. As the text progresses, it becomes more of a travel diary, listing places the authors visited, sometimes very briefly, and what they thought of it.
The disorganization of the text is not helped by the disorganization of the visuals. The images do not appear to be ordered meaningfully and they are arranged very far apart from where they are mentioned in the text, so what you're reading about is often disconnected from what you're seeing. And some of the most interesting things they discuss visiting aren't even pictured, notably Adam's Peak.
This does give some good, broad brush strokes to get a reader started on some topics, but it's too personal and disorganized to be much of a resource. It mostly feels dated and confused. ...more
This is a fine book, but it tries to be too many things. It spends its first half trying to give an overview of the development of Tendai Buddhism in This is a fine book, but it tries to be too many things. It spends its first half trying to give an overview of the development of Tendai Buddhism in Japan. Even the author admits that this part of the book is less engaging for those not already familiar with the topic. Since this is published by a Buddhist press, much of the terminology and many allusions are brushed over as necessarily familiar. At some point it becomes a wave of Capitalized Terms that don't stick long enough to sink in.
The second half is more engaging because it actually talks about the subject of the book. It seems to shift its focus, not sure if it's purely descriptive, biographical, or devotional. Central figures are alluded to before they're introduced, strangely, in the final chapter. The descriptions of the practice are very interesting, though a non-Buddhist reader will be struck by how the author takes every unprovable miraculous anecdote at face value. This is as slim an introduction as you're going to get in book form, and there's lots of engaging description once you get to the meat of it, but don't feel too bad if you skim the rest. ...more
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