Category: Theory

Escape from Rome: How the Loss of Empire Spurred the Rise of Modernity — and What this Suggests about US Higher Ed

by David Labaree, posted in Capitalism, Global History, Higher Education, History, State Formation, Theory

This post is a brief commentary on historian Walter Scheidel's latest book, Escape from Rome.  It's a stunningly original analysis of a topic that has long fascinated scholars like me:  How did Europe come to create the modern world?  His answer is this:  Europe became the cauldron of modernity and the dominant power in the … Continue reading Escape from Rome: How the Loss of Empire Spurred the Rise of Modernity — and What this Suggests about US Higher Ed

Doctoral Proseminar: An Introduction to Big Issues in the Field of Education

by David Labaree, posted in Course Syllabus, Education policy, Educational Research, Proseminar Class, Scholarship, Theory

This post contains all of the material for the doctoral proseminar -- Introduction to Big Issues in the Field of Education -- that I taught at the Stanford Graduate School of Education for the last four years. The aim of this class is to give first-year doctoral students in education a grounding in some of … Continue reading Doctoral Proseminar: An Introduction to Big Issues in the Field of Education