{"product_id":"the-soul-of-the-american-university-from-protestant-establishment-to-established-nonbelief","title":"The Soul of the American University: From Protestant Establishment to Established Nonbelief","description":"\u003cp\u003eOnly a century ago  almost all state universities held compulsory chapel services  and some required Sunday church attendance as well. In fact  state-sponsored chapel services were commonplace until the World War II era  and as late as the 1950s  it was not unusual for leading schools to refer to themselves as \"Christian\" institutions. Today  the once pervasive influence of religion in the intellectual and cultural life of Americas preeminent colleges and universities has all but vanished. In The Soul of the American University  Marsden explores how  and why  these dramatic changes occurred. Far from a lament for a lost golden age when mainline Protestants ruled American education  The Soul of the American University offers a penetrating critique of that era  surveying the role of Protestantism in higher education from the founding of Harvard in the 1630s through the collapse of the WASP establishment in the 1960s. Marsden tells the stories of many of our pace-setting universities at defining moments in their histories  including Harvard  Yale  Princeton  the University of Michigan  Johns Hopkins  the University of California at Berkeley  and the University of Chicago. He recreates the religious feuds that accompanied Yales transition from a flagship evangelical college to a university  and the dramatic debate over the place of religion in higher education between Harvards President Charles Eliot and Princetons President James McCosh. Marsdens analysis ranges from debates over Darwinism and higher critics of the Bible  to the roles of government and wealthy contributors  the impact of changing student mores  and even the religious functions of college football. He argues persuasively that the values of \"liberalism\" and \"tolerance\" that the establishment championed and used to marginalize Christian fundamentalism and Roman Catholicism eventually and perhaps inevitably led to its own disappearance from the educational milieu  as nonsectarian came to mean exclusively secular. While the largely voluntary disestablishment of religion may appear in many respects commendable  Marsden believes that it has nonetheless led to the infringement of the free exercise of religion in most of academic life. In effect  nonbelief has been established as the only valid academic perspective. In a provocative final chapter  Marsden spells out his own prescription for change  arguing that just as the academy has made room for feminist and multicultural perspectives  so should there be room once again for traditional religious viewpoints. A thoughtful blend of historical narrative and searching analysis  The Soul of the American University exemplifies what it advocates: that religious perspectives can provide a legitimate contribution to the highest level of scholarship.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44983731617845,"sku":"ByrdShop_0195106504","price":42.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780195106503.jpg?v=1770808094","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-soul-of-the-american-university-from-protestant-establishment-to-established-nonbelief","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}