In this dissertation I examine four critical monographs on the history of higher education. This type of monograph represents an unacknowledged source of value for the field of higher education studies, which has typically relied on survey level texts that provide coverage and historical background. In contrast, critical monographs offer a narrow, focused account in order to advance a scholarly argument that illuminates our understanding of US higher education in a substantive way. The four monographs in this study are Burton Clark’s The Distinctive College; Laurence Veysey’s The Emergence of the American University; Christopher Jenks and David Riesman’s The Academic Revolution; and Gerald Graff’s Professing Literature. Each of these works tells a very different story about the history of US higher education, and as a whole they provide a picture of what history can bring to the study of higher education. Not only do they highlight stories that our survey level texts miss, but they organize and conceptualize history in ways that challenge the dominant narratives we have about US higher education. This study looks at four monographs at a time when higher education studies is focused on the production of journal articles. My analysis directs our attention to long-form scholarship and attempts to use these specific works as models to help scholars understand what a richer understanding of history can bring to the study of higher education. Each work presents a different way to organize a historical narrative and otherwise provides a deeply contextualized argument that connects with and expands our thinking around the topics and problems that most concern higher education scholars. Journal articles—with their limited word counts—preclude the ability to construct this type of argument, and historical works such as survey texts that chronicle a series of events have a long form but lack this type of deeply contextualized argument. Only critical monographs present this type of argument and connect with the research we do in higher education studies. A better understanding of what these monographs do, how they are constructed, and why they are important can help us understand the interconnected, historical nature of contemporary problems.
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