Praise for Reconstructing the Campus
“Cohen’s engaging and well-researched book successfully argues that the challenges colleges faced in the Civil War and Reconstruction laid the foundation for the modern system of American higher education. Reconstructing the Campus merits close consideration by scholars of both the history of education and the Civil War era.”
—Jennifer Oast, Journal of the Civil War Era
"Cohen wonderfully describes the difficulties that were experienced throughout the country during the Civil War . . . . His conclusion brilliantly highlights the modernising influence of the Civil War, World War I, and World War II . . . . [H]is very thorough and well-researched book . . . . is entertaining reading, for history experts and novices alike."
—Karina C. Canaba, History of Education
"Cohen's lively and engaging study of higher education brings into high relief the transformative nature of the Civil War and its aftermath. He aptly demonstrates how the conflict reconstructed campuses in a way that accommodated a changing culture and people who sought new opportunities for learning."
—Victoria E. Ott, Civil War Book Review
“Cohen’s book forces readers to view the Civil War as not merely a traumatic crisis for colleges but also as a factor in postbellum change . . . . [I]t usefully revises our periodization . . . and adds to our rapidly growing understanding of southern academe’s history.”
—W. Bruce Leslie, Journal of American History
“Cohen . . . demolishes previous assertions that the war and Reconstruction had little effect on higher education in the South. . . . generally a tightly argued, well-researched, and much-needed study. Cohen is surely right in identifying the Civil War as a watershed in American higher education.”
—Rod Andrew Jr., Journal of Southern History
“[A] noteworthy performance in terms of depth, discernment, and readability . . . . the read feels leisurely but his argument evolves seamlessly, jam-packed with good detail and written in an unlabored style. . . . excellent historical analysis.”
—Amy E. Wells Dolan, History of Education Quarterly
“Cohen provides a rich and nuanced account of the character of higher education in the United States during a critical period. In the process he also highlights significant regional variations that have previously been insufficiently explored.”
—Nancy Beadie, American Historical Review
“Cohen illuminates the centrality of the Civil War to academia . . . . By detailing the social, political, economic, geographic, and educational changes fostered by the Civil War, Cohen’s account is a vital contribution to the historiography of the Civil War and Reconstruction.”
—Elizabeth Talbot, H-War
"Specialists in the history of US higher education will welcome this thoroughly researched, well-crafted book, which treats a subject previously undiscussed at length. . . . Recommended."
—D. Steeples, Choice
“Cohen persuasively demonstrates how these institutions adopted a variety of features now integral to American higher education....a fine study that asks its readers to reevaluate a period that has been largely neglected.”
—K. A. Wisniewski, Civil War History
"Cohen, through his expansive use of university archives, government documents, and secondary sources, provides a good and needed national look at higher education for a period that most accounts examine only regionally."
—Dan R. Frost, Register of the Kentucky Historical Society
"Cohen’s study is a valuable addition to the history of American higher education in the mid-nineteenth century—an understudied era—and a welcome complement to a historiography that has given outsized attention to the history of elite research universities."
—Nicholas M. Strohl, Journal of Interdisciplinary History
"Higher education administrators today would benefit from a close reading of this book."
—Julie A. Mujic, Civil War Monitor
"The book excels in its breadth of wartime college experience: male and female, northern and southern (and western), religious and secular, white and black, rich and poor, rural and urban, and more. . . . interesting and important."
—Jim Schmidt, "Civil War Medicine (and Writing)" (blog)
From the jacket:
"This book fills a void and corrects a tendency to simplify or overlook the multiple consequences of the Civil War on higher education for the entire United States. Cohen's choice of case studies for detailed focus is imaginative and original. His overall narrative links the case studies into a compelling portrait of the diverse range of institutions that were a part of American higher education in the mid-nineteenth century."
—John R. Thelin, University of Kentucky
"Reconstructing the Campus examines college campuses during and after the Civil War, an understudied time in the history of higher education. Cohen's important contribution to the field adds to the ongoing debate about the extent to which the Civil War was a watershed event in the history of higher education. The book is a lively and engaging read from start to finish."
—Margaret A. Nash, University of California, Riverside
—Jennifer Oast, Journal of the Civil War Era
"Cohen wonderfully describes the difficulties that were experienced throughout the country during the Civil War . . . . His conclusion brilliantly highlights the modernising influence of the Civil War, World War I, and World War II . . . . [H]is very thorough and well-researched book . . . . is entertaining reading, for history experts and novices alike."
—Karina C. Canaba, History of Education
"Cohen's lively and engaging study of higher education brings into high relief the transformative nature of the Civil War and its aftermath. He aptly demonstrates how the conflict reconstructed campuses in a way that accommodated a changing culture and people who sought new opportunities for learning."
—Victoria E. Ott, Civil War Book Review
“Cohen’s book forces readers to view the Civil War as not merely a traumatic crisis for colleges but also as a factor in postbellum change . . . . [I]t usefully revises our periodization . . . and adds to our rapidly growing understanding of southern academe’s history.”
—W. Bruce Leslie, Journal of American History
“Cohen . . . demolishes previous assertions that the war and Reconstruction had little effect on higher education in the South. . . . generally a tightly argued, well-researched, and much-needed study. Cohen is surely right in identifying the Civil War as a watershed in American higher education.”
—Rod Andrew Jr., Journal of Southern History
“[A] noteworthy performance in terms of depth, discernment, and readability . . . . the read feels leisurely but his argument evolves seamlessly, jam-packed with good detail and written in an unlabored style. . . . excellent historical analysis.”
—Amy E. Wells Dolan, History of Education Quarterly
“Cohen provides a rich and nuanced account of the character of higher education in the United States during a critical period. In the process he also highlights significant regional variations that have previously been insufficiently explored.”
—Nancy Beadie, American Historical Review
“Cohen illuminates the centrality of the Civil War to academia . . . . By detailing the social, political, economic, geographic, and educational changes fostered by the Civil War, Cohen’s account is a vital contribution to the historiography of the Civil War and Reconstruction.”
—Elizabeth Talbot, H-War
"Specialists in the history of US higher education will welcome this thoroughly researched, well-crafted book, which treats a subject previously undiscussed at length. . . . Recommended."
—D. Steeples, Choice
“Cohen persuasively demonstrates how these institutions adopted a variety of features now integral to American higher education....a fine study that asks its readers to reevaluate a period that has been largely neglected.”
—K. A. Wisniewski, Civil War History
"Cohen, through his expansive use of university archives, government documents, and secondary sources, provides a good and needed national look at higher education for a period that most accounts examine only regionally."
—Dan R. Frost, Register of the Kentucky Historical Society
"Cohen’s study is a valuable addition to the history of American higher education in the mid-nineteenth century—an understudied era—and a welcome complement to a historiography that has given outsized attention to the history of elite research universities."
—Nicholas M. Strohl, Journal of Interdisciplinary History
"Higher education administrators today would benefit from a close reading of this book."
—Julie A. Mujic, Civil War Monitor
"The book excels in its breadth of wartime college experience: male and female, northern and southern (and western), religious and secular, white and black, rich and poor, rural and urban, and more. . . . interesting and important."
—Jim Schmidt, "Civil War Medicine (and Writing)" (blog)
From the jacket:
"This book fills a void and corrects a tendency to simplify or overlook the multiple consequences of the Civil War on higher education for the entire United States. Cohen's choice of case studies for detailed focus is imaginative and original. His overall narrative links the case studies into a compelling portrait of the diverse range of institutions that were a part of American higher education in the mid-nineteenth century."
—John R. Thelin, University of Kentucky
"Reconstructing the Campus examines college campuses during and after the Civil War, an understudied time in the history of higher education. Cohen's important contribution to the field adds to the ongoing debate about the extent to which the Civil War was a watershed event in the history of higher education. The book is a lively and engaging read from start to finish."
—Margaret A. Nash, University of California, Riverside