ASH3002y Reading Assignment
February 24, 1999

Academic Cultures: Higher Learning

For this class, we'll consider the institution of the university in colonial America.  We'll examine the histories of Barnard and Columbia, and we'll also think more broadly about the interest and importance of universities as institutions with continuous existences from the colonial period to the present day. 

Examine the following college histories on the web.  Read the narrative histories presented on the sites.  Examine the timelines.  Spend some time with the database sections of the sites.  Also, compare the contents and formats of the three sites.  How different are they?  Which site seems most effective to you?  How might you use techniques used here in your own web projects?

Obviously, you need not read every word posted on each site, but do take time to explore these sites carefully and fully.  This (along with your reading in Moby-Dick, chapters 34-36, Penguin pages 161-181) constitutes your reading assignment for this class meeting.

• King's College, 1754-1776:  An Interactive History
• Early Columbia College, 1784-1856:  An Interactive History
• Barnard Interactive History

Other sources:

• David C. Humphrey, From King's College to Columbia, 1746-1800 (Columbia University Press, 1976)
• Milton Klein, ed., The Independent Reflector (Harvard University Press, 1964)