Fascinating article by Steven Mintz in Inside Higher Ed, in which he makes the argument that the history of higher ed is both critical to understand and, at the same time, less and less well understood.
Two particularly-interesting points: (1) The early historical importance of non-tenure track faculty
…the professionalization of the faculty meant that students nationwide encountered bona fide subject matter experts, but as the professoriate professionalized, the faculty, as a whole, grew more distant and detached from students, with professional staff assuming many of the faculty’s earlier nonacademic functions.
(2) The long arc of history is not necessarily a monotonic one
Scholars need to know why past efforts to technologize or personalize higher education generally failed; why, roughly every 20 years, activists have had to echo their predecessors’ calls for equity and inclusion…
There are many more interesting ideas in this piece. Well worth a read.