Education and Democracy: The Meaning of Alexander Meiklejohn, 1872–1964

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Univ of Wisconsin Press, 2009 M03 11 - 440 pages

This definitive biography of the charismatic Alexander Meiklejohn tracks his turbulent career as an educational innovator at Brown University, Amherst College, and Wisconsin’s “Experimental College” in the early twentieth century and his later work as a civil libertarian in the Joe McCarthy era. The central question Meiklejohn asked throughout his life’s work remains essential today: How can education teach citizens to be free?

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Contents

A Voyage across the Atlantic and Kants Ethics 18721899
3
College Education and the Moral Ideal 19001911
33
The College as Critic 19121919
61
To Whom Are We Responsible? 19201924
97
A New College with a New Idea 19251928
133
A Most Lamentable Comedy 19291932
165
A Fresh Start 19331940
199
A Reply to John Dewey 19411947
233
What Does the First Amendment Mean? 19481954
263
The Faith of a Free Man 19551964
296
Education and the Democratic IdealThe Meaning of Alexander Meiklejohn
329
Notes
337
Bibliography and Suggestions for Further Reading
391
Index
403
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About the author (2009)

Adam R. Nelson is associate professor of educational policy studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He is author of The Elusive Ideal: Equal Educational Opportunity and the Federal Role in Boston’s Public Schools, 1950–1985.

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