The Feudal Society in Today's University

James P. Houck

No 8443, Miscellaneous Publications from University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics

Abstract: Few institutions puzzle outsiders as much as the modern university. Even insiders may not grasp the primal essence of its life and behavior. The sheer size and diversity of many universities defeats orderly consideration. We adopt crude simplifications or, worse, numbing obfuscation. This is entirely unnecessary. The core of university life can be illuminated clearly through the prism of a rich and beguiling metaphor. This metaphor requires only that we see today's university as a thinly disguised feudal society such as existed in Europe during the 11th or 12th century A.D. In this medieval context, many otherwise baffling modern mysteries in academe become transparent.

Keywords: Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 12
Date: 1990
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-edu, nep-his, nep-hpe and nep-pke
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:umaemp:8443

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.8443

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