abstract

Ten years ago Ernest Boyer and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching released the book Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate (1990). A small book of less than a hundred pages, it was a manuscript with very big ideas that would begin what some would see as a revolutionary change in how those in the academy would view the role of the professoriate. In campuses across the country, from Level I research universities to community colleges, colleagues began to discuss the Boyer model and its implications for their scholarly endeavors, their teaching, and their professional lives. For the first time in fifty years our profession began to reflect seriously on the potential for new roles and rewards within the institutions.

The academic revolution of the 1940's and 1950's (Jencks and Riesman, 1968) which had established a climate based on research as legal tender was now being challenged by a new revolution which suggested a broadened view of the professorate. For a generation of academics who had been raised on the centrality of discovery research the possibilities of a broadened view of scholarship raised questions and sparked debate. On some campuses this was a civil intellectual exchange welcomed by many in the academic community: these discussions often led to changes in the climate of the college or university. Other campuses experienced greater resistance and, perhaps, less civility in the discussion. But in the past decade few campuses in America have escaped the impact of the Boyer model.

links to article

This page has been visited times since June 1, 2002.

© 2000-2003 Board of Trustees of Indiana University
Terms of Use