Jenna Robinson of the Martin Center lists books she would like to see under the Christmas tree.

One of my favorite projects at the Martin Center is the cultivation of our small-but-growing higher education library. So far, we’ve collected more than 600 books about higher education and the ideas that inform our understanding of education—as an institution, a lifelong project, and a higher calling.

I enjoy perusing the latest offers from academic publishers, hunting for education classics at my local used book store, receiving book donations from the Martin Center’s dedicated supporters, and (especially) sitting back in a comfortable chair and opening a new book for the first time. …

… There are many classic and new books that we need to add to our shelves—and that I look forward to reading in the future.

Here are ten that I’d love to find under the Christmas tree this year:

The House of Intellect by Jacques Barzun

From the editor:

“In this international bestseller, originally published in 1959, Jacques Barzun, acclaimed author of From Dawn to Decadence, takes on the whole intellectual—or pseudo-intellectual—world, attacking it for its betrayal of Intellect. ‘Intellect is despised and neglected,’ Barzun says, ‘yet intellectuals are well paid and riding high.’ He details this great betrayal in such areas as public administrations, communications, conversation and home life, education, business, and scholarship.” …

… Wendell Berry and Higher Education: Cultivating Virtues of Place by Jack R. Baker and Jeffrey Bilbro

From the editor:

“Prominent author and cultural critic Wendell Berry is well known for his contributions to agrarianism and environmentalism, but his commentary on education has received comparatively little attention. Berry has been eloquently unmasking America’s cultural obsession with restless mobility for decades, arguing that it causes damage to both the land and the character of our communities. Education, he maintains, plays a central role in this obsession, inculcating in students’ minds the American dream of moving up and moving on.”

Follow the link above to learn the other eight titles.