Where did all these books come from? The Publishing Industry and American Intellectual Life

The American book publishing industry shapes the character of American intellectual life. While the newspaper and television industries have been accused of and investigated for bias and lowering America’s intellectual standards, book publishing has gone largely unexamined by scholars. The existing studies of the publishing industry have focused on finance, procedure and history. “There are few ‘theories’ of publishing – efforts to understand the ‘whys’ as well as the ‘hows.’ Few scholarly scientists have devoted significant scholarly attention to publishing” (Altbach and Hoshino, xiii). There are many possible reasons for this lacuna. First, there is a perception that books have always been around, that they are an “old” technology and therefore they don’t appear to have had as much of an impact on our society as television and other media (which were developed quickly and suddenly) seem to have had (Altbach and Hoshino, xiv). Also, despite books’ present and past popularity, television, radio, and now the internet reach more people more easily, and are therefore more topical points of study and observation. In studying the effects of mass media on everyday American life, television and the internet may be the most logical points of study. Regarding public intellectual life however, books play a much more important role. Public intellectual life has always been associated with independent thinkers publishing their work for the masses. For this reason, this I focus on trade publishing. Trade publishing produces fiction and non-fiction works for the general reading public, as opposed to technical manuals, textbooks, and other fiction and nonfiction books targeted to small and specific audiences. Although, quantitatively speaking, “the largest part of book publishing business is embodied in that great complex of companies and activities producing educational, business, scientific, technical, and reference books and materials,” (Tebbel 1987, 439) the trade industry publishes most of the books that most people read. It is the most public segment of the industry, and the most likely place to find public intellectualism. Trade publishing is not only the most public segment of the industry, but it is also the most susceptible to corruption and lowered intellectual standards. Unlike specialty publishing, which caters to a specific, known segment of society, trade publishers must compete with countless other publications, as well as with other forms of media, for the patronage of the general public. As John Tebbel (author of a widely referenced history of the publishing industry) puts it, “The textbook, scientific, or technical book is subjected to much more rigorous scrutiny by buyers and users, and in an intensively competitive market inferior products are quickly lost" (Tebbel 1987, xiv). Since the standards for trade publishing are not nearly as specific – trade books simply need to catch the attention of a significant number of readers, they don’t have to measure up to a given level of quality – the quality of trade books is much more variable. And yet, a successful trade publication can have a much greater impact on society than the most rigorously researched and edited textbook or scholarly study.

Modos de ler e ações de leitura waysto read and actions of reading

This paper is the result of discussions held during the initial research on ways of reading and reading activities, to obtain the title of the Ph.D. graduate program in Education at UNESP - Marilia. The paper seeks to rethink the practice followed the reality historically constructed as reference, creating a dialectic movement, and a constant construction, and the overcoming of it. In this perspective, we approach possible practices that can enhance the student's prior knowledge, and from it, to propose ways of action that lead to the development of the subject through the processes of teaching and learning of reading in school. From the study of actions that are agreed as reading practices, the study proposes to work with the Reading Strategies to promote the development of the individual. Among the different results that have been announced in the research, we highlight the need for conscious mediation of the teacher in the act of teaching reading and conscious participation of the student in the process. Partial results give evidence to confirm the hypothesis that: intentional actions are driving the learning of children in activity in the classroom, considering their experiences and choices of the teacher as mediator in the process. Students in third grade of elementary school are the subjects of research, theory and practice. The researcher is the mediator and proposer of the actions based on microgenetic research.

Student and Faculty Perceptions of Technology’s Usefulness in Community College General Education Courses

Educational institutions of all levels invest large amounts of time and resources into instructional technology, with the goal of enhancing the educational effectiveness of the learning environment. The decisions made by instructors and institutions regarding the implementation of technology are guided by perceptions of usefulness held by those who are in control. The primary objective of this mixed methods study was to examine the student and faculty perceptions of technology being used in general education courses at a community college. This study builds upon and challenges the assertions of writers such as Prensky (2001a, 2001b) and Tapscott (1998) who claim that a vast difference in technology perception exists between generational groups, resulting in a diminished usefulness of technology in instruction. In this study, data were gathered through student surveys and interviews, and through faculty surveys and interviews. Analysis of the data used Kendall’s Tau test for correlation between various student and faculty variables in various groupings, and also typological analysis of the transcribed interview data. The analysis of the quantitative data revealed no relationship between age and perception of technology’s usefulness. A positive relationship was found to exist between the perception of the frequency of technology use and the perception of technology’s effectiveness, suggesting that both faculty members and students believed that the more technology is used, the more useful it is in instruction. The analysis of the qualitative data revealed that both faculty and students perceive technology to be useful, and that the most significant barriers to technology’s usefulness include faulty hardware and software systems,lack of user support, and lack of training for faculty. The results of the study suggest that the differences in perception of technology between generations that are proposed by Prensky may not exist when comparing adults from the younger generation with adults from the older generation. Further, the study suggests that institutions continue to invest in instructional technology, with a focus on high levels of support and training for faculty, and more universal availability of specific technologies, including web access, in class video, and presentation software. Adviser: Ronald Joekel

“FAILING TO FIT: STUDENT DEVELOPMENT THEORIES AND STUDENTS OF COLOR”

Theories proposed by Chickering, Astin, Helms, Gilligan, and Perry serve as a framework for under¬standing and explaining the development of college students.

Effects Of Perceived Financial Accessibility Of Colleges And Universities On Studentsâ¿ Assesment Of Institutional Desirability

This study focused on the effects of socioeconomic exclusivity indicators on college students¿ attitudes toward a hypothetical private liberal arts university. Students enrolled in two undergraduate courses in Education at an elite private liberal arts university in the northeast were randomly presented with one of three versions of an admissions brochure describing a fictitious university. The three versions of the brochure varied in their portrayals of the institution¿s financial exclusivity, ranging from high exclusivity to low exclusivity. Each student was asked to review the brochure and respond to a questionnaire, containing items pertaining to the overall desirability of the institution, as well as its student culture, academic program, campus traditions, and alumni network. Based on Thorstein Veblen¿s theory of the leisure class and Pierre Bourdieu¿s theory of social reproduction, it was hypothesized that students would judge the institution most favorably in all areas under the high exclusivity condition and least favorably under the low exclusivity condition. It was further hypothesized that differences in students¿ ratings of institutional desirability would be mediated by their own financial aid statuses. Results of a two-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) revealed significant (p < .05) interactive effects of institutional exclusivity and student aid status on the perceived desirability of the academic program and campus traditions of the institution. While recipients of need-based financial aid tended to rate more socioeconomically exclusive institutions more favorably on these two variables, those who were not receiving need-based financial aid tended to rate such institutions less favorably. Implications of the findings for student affairs practice are discussed and recommendations for further research are presented.

I want to be my own person: the meaning-making and psychosocial processes of legacy students at Bucknell University

This study examined the meaning-making and psychosocial processes of five female legacy students at Bucknell University, each of whom having had at least one parent graduate from the institution. With a research philosophy, design, and methodology rooted in qualitative inquiry and phenomenology, inductive data analysis led to three primary categories that underscored legacy identity development. The first, Paradox of Influence and Identity, revealed through six themes nuanced experiences of separation-individuation. Second, Teaching and Learning, comprised of five themes, illuminated the impact of family — and of Bucknell parent alumni in particular — on their children’s internal working models. Lastly, Bucknell — the Environmental Contextand the five themes grouped therein highlighted the contributions of University community members, and of the campus culture and climate itself, to the co-construction of psychosocial formation. A tentative outline of grounded theory was offered, which explored categorical relationships; Paradox of Influence and Identity emerged as thedominant phenomenon, informing and being reinforced by the data of Teaching and Learning and Bucknell — the Environmental Context. Provisional intervention strategies for student affairs practice, in the contexts of academics, residential life, and career development, were discussed. Further, triangulated research is needed to substantiate and evolve the findings and theoretical model of this thesis.

Key Aspects Affecting Students’ Perception Regarding the Instructional Quality of Online and Web Based Courses

This study assessed the perceptions of college students regarding the instructional quality of online and web based courses via a content management system. [See PDF for complete abstract]

Otium et negotium. Reading processes and their cultural backgrounds in early Italian and German humanism

Reading and reading habits have radically changed in the digital age. Readers are no longer physically bound to textual objects and libraries, they deal with texts by copying, altering, and annotating them, and they mix established textual forms with other semiotic systems such as pictograms, icons and images. These circumstances also provoke a renewed research interest in the history of reading. In this talk, I will concentrate on reading processes as to how they were enacted and practised in early Italian and German humanism. I will start with some paradigmatic scenes described in Petrarch’s letters (among others the famous visit of the Mont Ventoux, where Petrarch, after having enjoyed a spectacular panorama, withdraws into the contemplative reading of St-Augustine). The transmission of Petrarch’s writings in humanist circles of Southern Germany (e.g. with the Schedel and Gossembrot families in Nurnberg, Augsburg and Strasburg) will then lead to specific reading practices documented in manuscripts that once belonged to coherent libraries and are nowadays spread all over Europe. In the case of the former tradesman and mayor Sigismund Gossembrot, complex habits of textual annotating and cross-referencing can be observed. The dichotomy of the Latin terms otium (‘rest’ and ‘leisure’) and negotium (‘activity’, but also ‘practice’, ‘negotiation’, ‘circulation of social energy’ in the sense of New Historicism) will be used as an ideal-type outline to describe the occurring processes of reading.

Community College Student Participation in Undergraduate Research: An Explanatory Case Study for Faculty and Research Mentors

This study adapted the current model of science undergraduate research experiences (URE's) and applied this novel modification to include community college students. Numerous researchers have examined the efficacy of URE's in improving undergraduate retention and graduation rates, as well as matriculation rates for graduate programs. However, none have detailed the experience for community college students, and few have employed qualitative methodologies to gather relevant descriptive data from URE participants. This study included perspectives elicited from both non-traditional student participants and the established laboratory community. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the traditional model for a non-traditional student population. The research effort described here utilized a qualitative design and an explanatory case study methodology. Six non-traditional students from the Maine Community College System participated in this study. Student participants were placed in six academic research laboratories located throughout the state. Student participants were interviewed three times during their ten-week internship and asked to record their personal reflections in electronic format. Participants from the established research community were also interviewed. These included both faculty mentors and other student laboratory personnel. Ongoing comparative analysis of the textual data revealed that laboratory organizational structure and social climate significantly influence acculturation outcomes for non-traditional URE participants. Student participants experienced a range of acculturation outcomes from full integration to marginalization. URE acculturation outcomes influenced development of non-traditional students? professional and academic self-concepts. Positive changes in students? self-concepts resulted in greater commitment to individual professional goals and academic aspirations. The findings from this study suggest that traditional science URE models can be successfully adapted to meet the unique needs of a non-traditional student population – community college students. These interpretations may encourage post-secondary educators, administrators, and policy makers to consider expanded access and support for non-traditional students seeking science URE opportunities.

The Laws of Harvard College, 1790

Bound pamphlet copy of the 1790 College laws printed by Samuel Hall, with annotations attributed to Christophe Ebeling. Handwritten inscription on cover: "For Professor Ebeling of Hamburgh from Joseph Willard President of Harvard College in Cambridge." A list of the "present executive officers of the College" for June 1794 is handwritten on the back inside cover, and the number of students in College are listed on the verso.

College Book 4, 1686-1750

Regular recording of Corporation meetings began in College Book 4, which includes minutes from July 23, 1686 through September 5, 1750. Its spine title reads "College Book 4 & 5" due to a nineteenth century labeling error. The creation of College Book 4 was precipitated by the English Court of Chancery's October 1684 judgment, which annulled the Royal Charter of the Massachusetts Colony and seemed to render the College Charter of 1650 – and with it the Corporation and Board of Overseers – defunct. In May 1686, Joseph Dudley (Harvard AB 1665) received a commission as the President of the Council of New England, and on July 23, 1686, Dudley and the Council met in Boston to create a provisional College governing board led by Increase Mather as Rector of the College and John Leverett and William Brattle as Tutors. The "Rector and Tutors" mirrored in purpose if not in name the Corporation's "President and Fellows," and the agreements of President Dudley and the Council creating the new governing board comprise the first entry in College Book 4. In June 1692, a new act of incorporation for Harvard College was passed in the Massachusetts Legislature and signed by the Governor. The Charter of 1692 merged the functions of the Board of Overseers and the Corporation into one Corporation consisting of the President, Treasurer, and eight Fellows. As the Corporation created by this 1692 act (and modified in later versions of the Charter) grew unwieldy, its members met less frequently. As a result, the Faculty (known until 1825 as the "Immediate Government") assumed more responsibility in managing the College's daily operations and addressing student discipline. On December 6, 1707 the Massachusetts General Court restored the Charter of 1650, thus reestablishing the Board of Overseers and the Corporation as the governing bodies of Harvard College. The changes in name and composition of the Harvard Corporation between 1686 and 1707 are documented in the proceedings recorded in College Book 4.

Mathematics notebook : manuscript, 1782

With sections on numeration, surveying, trigonometry and other topics, accompanied by diagrams and hand-colored illustrations.

Letter from Daniel Upton to James Savage, 1799 September 29

Daniel Upton wrote this letter from Machias, Maine on September 29, 1799; it is addressed to James Savage, who was then a freshman at Harvard College. In the letter, Upton advises Savage to study ardently, avoiding the temptation to procrastinate. He thanks Savage for having sent him a copy of "Mr. Lowell's oration" and sends greetings to a Mr. Holbrook and Mr. Jones. He also passes along the fond wishes of those in Machias who know Savage, including John Cooper and his wife, Phineas Bruce and his wife, and Hannah Bruce (Upton's future wife). Upton explains that he is writing the letter in a hurry because he is sending it on board with Captain Merryman, who is about to set sail, presumably for Boston.

Settlement of chambers, 1741-1764

The book is comprised of folio-sized pages conserved in a modern soft-cover binding. The volume consists of yearly handwritten lists of dormitory room assignments for the years 1741-1753 and 1761-1764. Students are listed by last name and building names are often abbreviated as "M" for Massachusetts Hall, "S" for Stoughton Hall, and "O" for Old College or Harvard Hall. The organizational pattern varies by list, some are alphabetical, others arranged by building and room number. The lists for 1743, 1748, 1749, 1761-1764 also note students living outside of the College and their locations. The lists for 1761-1764 also include the waiters and monitors for the academic year.

On devotion : commencement essay, 1793

Two-page handwritten oration titled "On devotion" composed by graduate Samuel Farrar for the July 17, 1793 Harvard University Commencement. The essay begins, "The mind assuming reason for its guide, and the works of nature for its contemplation..."