How Economic Collapse and a World War Transformed Higher Ed — and Why Things Will Be Different This Time – The Chronicle of Higher Education
The era following World War II led to a great expansion of American higher education, which directly and indirectly drove the economy, led to new inventions and innovations, and helped export American culture and ideas.
But in the decade before the war, colleges had to pass through the Great Depression. The stark economic losses of the past few weeks have people comparing our time to the era that started with Black Tuesday. And in the current battle against the “enemy” virus, World War II has been repeatedly invoked, with talk of victory gardens, mass (im)mobilization of people in the fight, and a warlike response to the invader.
How did colleges weather those events? What could they learn from the past? Could they reinvigorate on the other side?
John R. Thelin, a professor in the College of Education at the University of Kentucky and the author of A History of American Higher Education, explained this week to The Chronicle how higher education suffered and sustained itself during the Depression — and why Covid-19 renders the sustaining strategies ineffective today. But the history of that era also indicates that world-shaking events have a way of producing unexpected results. Thelin offered his thoughts about how life was transformed back then, and what might unfold after the coronavirus.