Fundamentalist U, Adam Laats
Fundamentalist U, Adam Laats
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Fundamentalist U
Keeping the Faith in American Higher Education

Author: Adam Laats

Narrator: Bob Souer

Unabridged: 11 hr 55 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 08/14/2018


Synopsis

Colleges, universities, and seminaries do more than just transfer knowledge to students. They sell themselves as "experiences" that transform young people in unique ways. The conservative evangelical Protestant network of higher education has been no different. In the twentieth century, when higher education sometimes seemed to focus on sports, science, and social excess, conservative evangelical schools offered a compelling alternative. On their campuses, evangelicals debated what it meant to be a creationist, a Christian, a proper American, all within the bounds of Biblical revelation. Instead of encouraging greater personal freedom and deeper pluralist values, conservative evangelical schools thrived by imposing stricter rules on their students and faculty.

In Fundamentalist U, Adam Laats shows that these colleges have always been more than just schools; they have been vital intellectual citadels in America's culture wars. These unique institutions have defined what it has meant to be an evangelical and have reshaped the landscape of American higher education.

About Adam Laats

Adam Laats is Professor of Education and History at Binghamton University. He is the author of several books, including The Other School Reformers: Conservative Activism in American Education, winner of the History of Education Society's Outstanding Book Award in 2016.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Justin

A remarkably fair yet hard-hitting history of non-denominational bible institutes, colleges, and universities that ends up hitting many themes of the broader American Christian movement in the 20th century.......more

Goodreads review by William

I was homeschooled, attended a tiny church/school (five students in my graduating class!), and then went to Pensacola Christian College and Moody Bible Institute. And let me tell you, as someone who has only ever known fundamentalist Christian education, this book pretty much nails it. Though it mus......more

Goodreads review by Allison

Many others have written reviews which are so eloquent and well-worded, so I'll leave the formality to them and go with my usual off-the-cuff impressions of this read. Overall, I was very impressed with the level of detail in historical accuracy and research. It is clear that the author took his tim......more

Goodreads review by Chris

This is an incredibly well documented history of pointless Christian in fighting, promoting narcissism, and Christian fundamentalist higher education institutions masquerading as actual places of learning. At a certain point in this book the author talks about the intellectual battles where fundamen......more