Description/Abstract:
ABSTRACT
CONNECTED THOUGHTS: A REINTERPRETATION OF THE REORGANIZATION OF ANTIOCH COLLEGE IN THE 1920S.
Stephen Rogers Herr
Since Antioch's reorganization in the early 1920s the event has been heralded as a wonder of academic innovation and generally credited to the work of one man, Arthur Morgan. The purpose of this study is to examine the politics of educational innovation as represented by that reorganization.
The dissertation opens with a brief review of the previous works that have dealt with this period of Antioch's history beginning with works contemporaneous to the event and following through to recent publications.
After that the theme broadens out to briefly examine the historical development of the relationship between work and study in the United States. Beginning with the early role of apprenticeship and continuing through the 1920s and specifically highlighting: Oberlin College, the American Missionary Association, the Hampton Institute, the Tuskegee institute, Berea College, the National Society for the Promotion of Industrial Education, the University of Cincinnati and Antioch College.
With broader concerns addressed the focus of the dissertation is fixed on the reorganization's planning period and the nitty-gritty of setting up a program - redefining the role of the institution, attracting talent to the institution, getting financial and intellectual support, publicizing the program and preparing to run the college. This leads off a discussion of the first five years of the college's operation under the new program, the continuing efforts to publicize the program, the disparities between the early goals of the program and their actualization as well as the evolving roles of the president, the dean, the faculty and the students.
The dissertation concludes by drawing Antioch back into a larger arena, using that opportunity to address some of the influences that might have mitigated the event but which would not readily present themselves, in the more straight, forward chronological narrative.
The conclusion reached by this study is that Antioch's reorganization was neither a remarkable educational innovation nor the work of one man but rather it required the efforts of a number of individuals whose work was in many ways in harmony with both the traditions of the institution and the larger educational community.