What's the Point of College?
Seeking Purpose in an Age of Reform

Since I majored in humanities a few decades ago, I often agreed with Dr. Neem while reading this book. With me, he was preaching to the choir. Other times, though, I felt like he was ignoring issues, such as dull as dirt classes being taught by tenured professors, who are bored out of their minds or......more

This book contains a provocative set of essays calling the American college to embrace its liberal arts calling and reject the utilitarian temptations or the current call for new paradigms. While I appreciated many of the author’s arguments, I see no way for actual universities to do what he says (e......more

In this slender but potent volume Johann Neem advances a virtue ethics centered argument as the necessary telos of collegiate study and liberal education, as opposed to the oft-bandied pragmatic and utilitarian challenges the academy is faced with every election cycle. I think he does a fine job sum......more

Let me start by saying I wanted to like this book. I enjoyed the early chapters. The author shared insightful thoughts on recent disruptions and innovations. However, around chapter six, the author appears to shift into a defense of traditional liberal art colleges for the sake of traditional libera......more

Neem's concise and insightful book guides readers into the complex elements that make up higher education in the early 21st century. He provides historical context to many of the internal challenges of collegues and universities as the issues that confuse the general public about the nature of highe......more