黄金时代的阴影:20世纪美国人文学科博士危机及启示-清华大学教育研究

文章信息/Info

Title:: The Shadow of the Golden Age: The Crisis in American Humanities PhDs in the Twentieth Century and Its Enlightenment

Author(s):: CHEN Er-dong LUO Ying-zi; College of Public Administration, Nanjing Agricultural University

摘要:: 基于历史演进视角剖析,美国人文博士生教育在20世纪经历由高速扩张,到引发危机,再到培养策略调整的发展历程。繁荣的美国高等教育黄金年代在促进人文学科博士生教育快速发展的同时,也为持续数十年的人文学科博士危机埋下隐患;美国人文学科博士危机其本质是博士学位获得者与大学终身教职之间的自然衔接关系消失,根深蒂固的学术接班人培养理念与培养方式难以适应博士生个人发展诉求。进一步分析发现,人文博士危机的出现及加重同美国博士生教育基本特征相关,包括市场导向、非中心化、结构化等。为促进人文学科博士生教育持续发展,美国学界聚焦于“培养公共人文学者”议题,强调在培养学科继承人、促进多元化职业发展以及提升人文学科社会价值三者间实现平衡。由此借鉴,在我国高等教育高速发展,博士生教育空前繁荣的历史背景下,既需要培养能够走出校园、服务公共文化事业的人文学者,也需要警惕教育市场化所衍生的功利倾向与短视问题,并借助毕业博士追踪数据持续为教育领域提供反馈。

Abstract:: Based on the perspective of historical evolution, the U.S. doctoral education in humanities experienced a rapid expansion in the 20th century, and subsequently adjusted its training strategies after suffering employment crisis of humanities PhDs. The golden age of American higher education promotes the rapid development of humanities doctoral education, but also threatens the sustainability of doctoral education. The study finds that the essence of American humanities PhDs’ crisis is the disappearance of the natural progression from PhD graduates to tenure-track positions in universities. The deeply ingrained academic tradition of training successors has struggled to meet the personal development needs of doctoral students. Further analysis shows that the emergence and exacerbation of the humanities PhD crisis are associated with the basic characteristics of doctoral education in the United States, such as market orientation, decentralization, and structuralization. To promote the sustainable development of humanities PhD education, the American academia has focused on the issue of “cultivating public humanities scholars,” emphasizing the need to balance the training of discipline successors, the promotion of diverse career paths, and the enhancement of the social value of the humanities. Finally, the study draws implications for the practices of PhD training in China.