The Betrayal of the Humanities: The University During the Third Reich

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Recommended by Jonathan Zittrain, George Bemis Professor of International Law; Vice Dean for Library and Information Resources; Faculty Director of Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society; Professor of Computer Science at Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences; and Professor of Public Policy at Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government

This compilation of studies, drawn from a 2012 symposium, examines the ways academics in Germany became not only beholden to, but collaborators with, the Nazi regime.

“We think of universities as both structurally and culturally positioned to be apart from the societies in which they’re situated, but independence can prove very difficult to maintain, especially when ‘being out of touch’ or having government subsidies challenged are the least of the institutions’ worries,” Zittrain said. “While these accounts and perspectives about a receding era stand very well on their own, I can’t help but see resonance with some of the intense fights over the role and function of universities today.”