City of Intellect

‘City of Intellect is a beautifully written book that combines memoir with well-researched analysis to address the current place and crisis of the American university. Dirks tells the story of his brief and controversial chancellorship at Berkeley, while offering a full-throated defense of his actions and views that will be of deep interest to the many observers who have wondered about the details of the conflict. But the book is about much more than the highly visible and contentious battles at Berkeley. Dirks' long experience in higher education serves as the foundation for thoughtful observations about why universities are in crisis and why they seem so resistant to necessary change. He addresses, among other topics, the future of the humanities, the appropriate role of disciplines, the improvement of decision-making processes, and financial realities and possibilities. It is a call to action with a number of quite specific and useful proposals. It serves at once as a significant primary and secondary source about higher education and has important things to say.' Drew Gilpin Faust, Arthur Kingsley Porter University Professor and President Emerita (2007–18), Harvard University