Fundamentalist U: Keeping the Faith in American Higher Education

by Adam Laats Narrated by Bob Souer

Overview

Colleges, universities, and seminaries do more than just transfer knowledge to students. They sell themselves as "experiences" that transform young people in unique ways. The conservative evangelical Protestant network of higher education has been no different. In the twentieth century, when higher education sometimes seemed to focus on sports, science, and social excess, conservative evangelical schools offered a compelling alternative. On their campuses, evangelicals debated what it meant to be a creationist, a Christian, a proper American, all within the bounds of Biblical revelation. Instead of encouraging greater personal freedom and deeper pluralist values, conservative evangelical schools thrived by imposing stricter rules on their students and faculty.



In Fundamentalist U, Adam Laats shows that these colleges have always been more than just schools; they have been vital intellectual citadels in America's culture wars. These unique institutions have defined what it has meant to be an evangelical and have reshaped the landscape of American higher education.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

02/26/2018
In this fastidiously researched but biased study, Laats, professor of history at Binghamton University, describes the development of fundamentalist higher education since the 1920s as an attempt to modernize evangelical training schools in response to secular education. Laats links this new brand of higher education to the shared goal throughout fundamentalist communities of providing a competitive education in an environment with strict standards for student conduct and an academic curriculum that wouldn’t contradict beliefs in biblical inerrancy. He explores the governing philosophies at various schools (particularly the racist policies at Bob Jones University, where black students weren’t admitted until 1970 and interracial dating was prohibited until 2000) before turning the discussion to the cults of personality that have developed around school founders and leaders. The book concentrates mainly on Bob Jones (and his heirs) and Clifton Fowler at the Denver Bible Institute, both of whom conducted staff purges and placed personal loyalty above educational excellence. Laats’s other large concern is the schism between mainstream evangelicals and the fundamentalists who objected to their “big tent” policies. Although Laats concedes that much of fundamentalist orthodoxy is irreconcilable with academic standards of research, he minimizes the importance of the teaching of evolutionary science as a driving force behind the rise of fundamentalist institutions, and glosses over disputes about geologic time alternatives. Delving into these issues may not be necessary for specialists, but general readers will be frustrated by the lack of broader context in an otherwise enlightening book. (Mar.)

From the Publisher

"Laat's book is an informative, interesting, and sympathetic look at a fascinating educational subculture." — David Talcott, The King's College (NY), Religious Studies Review

"Fundamentalist U,is essential reading for anyone interested in the history of modern evangelicalism." — Tim Gloege, Church History

"Along the way, Laats uses a vast array of evidence, from theological tracts to student evaluations, to reveal the changing perspectives of, and pressures on, university administrators, professors, students, and parents. ... Fundamentalist U is a superb book and a significant contribution to the histories of U.S. religion and politics as well as higher education." — Andrew Jewett, Journal of American History

"Finally, we have a comprehensive history of some of the most significant and significantly understudied 'dissenting' types of higher educational institutions: fundamentalist and evangelical colleges and universities. And Adam Laats is exactly the right person to have written it. As a sympathetic outsider to the institutions he studies, Laats pairs depth of research and analysis with a commitment to rigorous fairness to his subjects... Fundamentalist U reshapes our mental landscape of twentieth-century American higher educational institutions and is essential reading for understanding both their history and their present." — Andrea L. Turpin, History of Education Quarterly

"Laats is an engaging writer, and the book's chapters are filled with fascinating stories cleverly told. . . . Fundamentalist U reshapes our mental landscape of twentieth-century American higher educational institutions and is essential reading for understanding both their history and their present." —Professor Turpin, HEQ

"At its worst, scholarship on religion and American higher education has a tendency to diverge into a diatribe against secularization and the waning influence of Christianity in 20th and 21st century colleges and universities. At its best, scholarship on religion and American higher education produces fascinating studies about the ways in which religion engages in a unique and complex network of educational institutions that, in many ways, is unparalleled in any other country. Adam Laats's book, Fundamentalist U: Keeping Faith in American Higher Education, falls within the latter category ... Laats presents scholars with an important study in an area of religion and American higher education that brings evangelical and fundamentalist institutions into the field of study." —Andrew Gardner, Reading Religion

"Adam Laats's history of the development of evangelical and fundamentalist higher education reveals a complex interaction between religious and academic values. The colleges, universities, and Bible Institutes that he examines contained deep differences regarding both spheres. As a sympathetic observer and an objective reporter, Laats captures the conflicts and the abiding strengths of faith-based institutions as they wrestle with the challenges of modernity and their own internecine quarrels."—Roger L. Geiger, author of The History of American Higher Education: Culture and Learning from the Founding to World War II

"Fundamentalist and conservative evangelical colleges face unique tensions. They represent volatile movements plagued by internal struggles and ever-shifting boundaries. They pursue higher learning on behalf of a movement that accused America's universities of betraying God's truth and righteousness. And they function as halfway houses for evangelical students who are called to be in the world, but not of it. Adam Laats went deep into the archives of Bob Jones University, Wheaton College, Moody Bible Institute, Biola University, Liberty University and Gordon College, and he tells their stories with great integrity. The result is a major contribution to the history of Christian higher education and to the understanding of fundamentalism and evangelicalism in America."—Joel Carpenter, Director of the Nagel Institute for the Study of World Christianity, Calvin College

"Adam Laats's nuanced, detailed, and exceptionally well researched history of twentieth-century conservative Protestant higher education offers a plethora of fascinating information and perceptive insights. It is essential reading even for those well versed in American evangelical history, because it offers a fresh analysis of the complex ways in which fundamentalist colleges reflected (and shaped) their religious movement's tenuous balance between the demands of the world and the tenets of faith."—Daniel K. Williams, author of God's Own Party: The Making of the Christian Right

"Laat's book is a valuable resource for those interested in the history of education or conservative Christianity."—Library Journal

"An invaluable introduction to the esoteric world of Christian higher education. Few existing studies offer this level of insight into the inner workings of schools like BJU and Liberty."
—Los Angeles Review of Books

"A fascinating and careful history."—Wall Street Journal

"Laats attempts to identify the distinct nature of non-denominational, fundamentalist-evangelical higher education in the 20th century. And he succeeds admirably... Laats has made a solid contribution to our understanding of both higher education and American Christianity."—Christianity Today

Library Journal

02/01/2018
Fundamentalists and evangelicals (hereafter simply "evangelicals") are frequently portrayed as conservative antiintellectuals, whose institutions are centers of indoctrination. Laats (education, history, Binghamton Univ.; The Other School Reformers) would concede a general conservative bent to evangelical colleges and universities, but insists that they have pursued the general academic trends in higher education while attempting to navigate the vagaries of defining this specific branch of faith. Laats made use of the archives of a number of evangelical institutions. To further generalize, the schools selected were those associated with Evangelicalism generally and not a particular denomination. Using a thematic-historical narrative, the development of these institutions is shown against the backdrop of both academic trends and the evangelical subculture. An example of this multifaceted conflict can be seen in how various institutions deal with the theory of evolution. VERDICT Laats goes into great detail when discussing the development of his subjects, yet the actual progression of evangelical subcultures themselves is somewhat lacking, detracting from part of his thesis. Also unclear is to what extent colleges have affected this subculture. Even so, Laat's book is a valuable resource for those interested in the history of education or conservative Christianity.—James Wetherbee, Wingate Univ. Libs., NC

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170955541
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	08/14/2018
Edition description:	Unabridged

Videos