Nicholas Dirks on the past and future of universities

My friend Nicholas B. Dirks 's new book, City of Intellect: The Uses and Abuses of the University, is a thoughtful exploration of the past and future of universities. It comes not a moment too soon.?

After recently giving a commencement address at University of Bologna—the oldest university in the West—as well as meeting with administrators and professors from some of the world’s other preeminent academic institutions—I’ve been thinking a lot about the state of higher education. City of Intellect details pervasive campus culture wars and other macro forces that are increasingly complicating the utopian vision for universities. The result is a book that’s as important as it is interesting.?

Calling on his own experience in academia—including as Chancellor of UC Berkeley—Dirks explores the past and present of the modern university and offers a lucid analysis of the future and what’s at stake. His background as a history and anthropology professor comes through as he weaves historical context about the evolution of the university together with his own intellectual explorations. His journey begins with witnessing his father’s academic path and? living abroad in India, a country with which he forges a lifelong bond.?

Instead of leaning solely on his lens from the Chancellor’s office, Dirks incorporates his experiences from more than half-a-century in academia: from his days as an undergraduate student, graduate scholar, professor, dean, and beyond. As he puts it, he has “always been inspired by seeing the university as a place where lives are changed, where knowledge is not only developed and transmitted, but transfused with the continuous quest to make sense of our humanity, to find meaning in life, to embrace our engagement in the world, and in doing so to decry injustice, call out the workings of power, and argue about how we might attempt to add real value to the world we share.”

All this informs his perspective on the volatile, intensely complicated battleground that has become our modern university.

As Berkeley’s top administrator, Dirks experienced the enormous opportunities that come with leading a preeminent, state-funded institution, yet his time there was far from smooth sailing. The challenges during his tenure—from internal power struggles and budget deficits to free speech controversies—are hardly unique to Berkeley. They serve as a compelling springboard for a larger discussion around the fate of universities today.?

Between a dramatic decrease in public universities’ funding in recent decades and a similarly dramatic increase in public scrutiny and culture wars, universities and their community members are in new territory. Dirks shows how universities have reached this moment of crisis—facing deepening financial pressure, while also being challenged from all sides on issues of free speech and inclusion. There are, of course, politics at play, with figures such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis blasting public universities for pushing political agendas, while simultaneously attempting to place his own legislative limits on what can be taught.

As Dirks envisions what is to become of these storied institutions, he reminds us that this is not the first time that universities have faced challenges and been forced to adapt. Fundamental tensions have long existed: the emphasis on academic research vs. teaching; undergraduate educational breadth vs. graduate specialization; respectful inclusion vs. open-inquiry, and so on. Dirks maintains that these will not go away.?

That of course raises the critical questions that Dirks grapples with in City of Intellect: How much tension can be tolerated before the institution itself is fatally wounded? Who decides? How do we establish the foundation for mutual respect??

I encourage you to consider these important questions and to give City of Intellect a read. Dirks says it best, so I leave you with his closing words from the book:

“Flawed though it is, the university is an institution that is driven by a noble idea and brings enormous value for individuals and society alike. Every now and then, the university lives up to its utopian aspirations, if only for a few fleeting moments, before inevitably falling short once again. If we are not to confront a future of dissolution, collapse, and failure, it is helpful to be hailed by that idea of utopian possibility, but it is far more necessary to be fully engaged in the process of institutional change that will continue to unfold, in one direction or another, no matter what we may do to try to wish it all away. The stakes are high.”