History Roundtable on US Universities and the State: Episodes from the Twentieth Century

Abstract

This roundtable explores four historical episodes in the history of state–university relations in the United States. In doing so, it addresses issues that also figure prominently in present-day debates, including questions of academic freedom and free speech, the state's role in research funding as well as the international features of higher education. Convened by the journal's editor, the roundtable features individual contributions from four historians, each of whom focuses on a particular document and moment in time: a 1912 report from the US Commissioner of Education, Philander Claxton, that indicated a shift towards an internationalization strategy (Charlotte Lerg); a 1915 statement on academic freedom by the American Association of University Professors (Tomás Irish); Vannevar Bush's 1945 report on Science – the Endless Frontier (Christopher Loss); and a ‘Joint Statement on Rights and Freedoms of Students’ from 1967 (Kate Ballantyne). Taken together, these pieces point to a wider question – namely the role and public value that different political and academic actors attribute to academic research and higher education – and to the institutions and individuals that are engaged in it.