Overview

Convinced that America's institutions of higher learning now face a crisis - that they are not meeting the educational needs of their students, that faculty members can do better - William H. Willimon and Thomas H. Naylor here propose bold changes in the nation's undergraduate educational system. By looking at academic life from the students' point of view - the text is filled with real-life situations, reflections from students, and poignant illustrations - The Abandoned Generation evaluates American colleges and universities on the basis of the quality of the lives that they are now producing. Willimon and Naylor take an honest look at three realities of student life - substance abuse, indolence, and excessive careerism. They then evaluate the underlying causes - the sense of meaninglessness in student life and the absence of community. Finally, they build a provocative four-tier strategy for change - restructuring the academy, teachers who actually teach, curriculum reform, and the creation of learning communities.

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9780802841193

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Reviews

Thomas E. Corts --President, Samford University Three cheers and a varsity letter to Willimon and Naylor, who tell the truth about today's secular collegians. If you have a sentimental view of universities and a low-level tolerance for honesty, avoid this book. . . . It is a serious call to reclaim a generation that grew up morally shortchanged.

Two grumpy professors wring their hands over the current state of higher education. Willimon, dean of the Chapel at Duke Univ., and Naylor, an emeritus professor of economics at Duke, disturbed by what they perceived to be the moral deterioration of contemporary undergraduate life, decided to team-teach a freshman seminar in 1991. The course, called The Search for Meaning, serves as the basis for this book. In it, the authors bemoan the genuine problems of our current generation of undergraduates: more alcohol abuse than ever, a destructive attitude toward sex, too little appreciation of the intellectual life. But they get a bit hysterical: Too many teachers teach too little, and students take too few courses. The prevailing values on college campuses are individualism, hedonism, and anti-intellectualism. Universities that are too large, too impersonal, and overly focused on research have undone the bond of friendship between teacher and student, say Willimon and Naylor. Professors have lost sight of their true mission, which is to instill in undergraduate students a sense of moral orientation in the world. How are we to recover our bearings? Unexpectedly, the answer comes from GM and IBM: radical downsizing, first of all. But we must also abolish fraternities, sororities, and tenure, and - so we must assume - teach more courses like theirs. The Search for Meaning is an omnium-gatherum of readings from philosophy, religion, psychotherapy, literature, and fine arts. It is the sort of class that undergraduates usually refer to as gut, i.e., sure to produce a good grade if you regularly show up with a serious expression on your face. They advocate teaching on Saturdays and early in the morning as a way of keeping the lid on hedonistic student cavorting in barroom and bedroom. An unconvincing de profundis. (Kirkus Reviews)

Author Information

Will Willimon is Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry and Director of the Doctor of Ministry at Duke Divinity School, Durham, North Carolina. He is an internationally renowned preacher and widely read author noted for his humor, his insight into the Christian faith, and his theological commitment. His many books have sold over a million copies.

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