Reviews for In Dewey's Wake: Unfinished Work of Pragmatic Reconstruction

The average rating for In Dewey's Wake: Unfinished Work of Pragmatic Reconstruction based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-12-14 00:00:00 Rodney Jones I had this on my to read list for a long time and I finally got around to reading it. It's a short book on the social history of University of California Berkeley's home economics program. Nerad traces its history through its creation, prominent figureheads such as department chair Agnes Fay Morgan, and its demise due to state and national pressure to consolidate programs. The history of Berkeley's home econ program, according to Nerad, was doomed from the start because of the powerful influence of gender inequities. For example, Nerad successfully highlights how the university president's biased opinions about women marred every program decision including creating the program to segregate female students from male-dominated fields; minimizing faculty hires and program funding; and refusing to build a graduate program in home econ. Nerad also points the finger at long-time chair Morgan, who siphoned all research funding for her projects rather than sharing with other faculty members. Another theme that Nerad gets right is program status, as she deftly describes that prestige is more important than money in academia. She traces how home econ tried to elevate itself to become a prestigious, research-driven, and academically rigorous program, but remained as a lowly vocational program because of gendered expectations on curriculum and research projects. My two qualms with this book is the minimal discussion of organizational theory and lessons learned in the conclusion. Nerad said that organizational theory guided the framework of the study, but she minimally discussed this in her book. Furthermore, I think she skimped on the lessons learned in the concluding chapter. The lessons were too general and nothing tangible that higher education admins and faculty members can use today when building an academic program. Overall, it was an easy and digestible read for anyone interested in educational history and how universities create new academic programs.

Review # 2 was written on 2018-06-21 00:00:00 John Thomas For anyone studying the history of education, this book provides insight and relevance as to how gender is a vital element of study in such context. While the primary focus is centered on the development, growth, and alteration of the Home Economics program at Berkeley, the general information provides relevant, engaging, and deep consideration of how women were viewed in education. It is well researched and structured, bringing to light archival correspondence, speeches, and research to frame an involving and strong discussion. If one feels that the study of the history of education is vital, as I do, this book will serve multiple purposes - providing an analysis of how then current events shaped education while also including elements of gender bias, social construction impeding access, and even salary inequality across fields and credentials. Even if one is not directly engaged in the study of the impact of gender or a specific program on education, the work readily is applicable as a reading of how historical, geographical, socioeconomic, and human factors influence academics and education throughout time. The book is important, engaging, and vital to understanding much of modern views of inquiry into the role of gender in program choice and the ilk. As the book itself states when listing the seven conclusions one should draw, "...higher education scholars will have an incomplete analysis if they do not include gender as an important factor in studies of university history and the way in which a university functions, as well as in biographies of the university's leaders." The relevance of this claim is well supported by the book and provides an engaging social history that also tells a relevant story of one institution that largely mirrors the challenges faced by others. A recommended read in my view.