"Reconstructing the University is one of the most interesting books on changes in higher education that I have come across. By sampling university course catalogues from countries in Europe and the Americas to those in the Middle and Far East, Africa and Oceania, Frank and Gabler are able to map broad convergences in the fate of the humanities, social sciences and sciences over the course of the 20th century. The changes they demonstrate--especially, the phenomenal rise of the social sciences--suggest that it is more than plausible to think of universities as constituents of a worldwide republic of learning."--Gerhard Casper, President Emeritus, Stanford University
"The broad sweep of this study, both chronologically and geographically, is unprecedented in this area of research. The general pattern of findings--expanding social sciences, declining humanities, steady natural sciences throughout the world--and the specific findings for particular disciplines will be eye-opening for many specialists and professionals. This is a landmark study of the structure of organized knowledge."--John Boli, Emory University

David John Frank is Associate Professor of Sociology and, by courtesy, Education at the University of California, Irvine. Jay Gabler is a Ph.D. candidate in sociology at Harvard University.